Ruto hands over COMESA chairmanship, pushes for levy to fund regional programmes

President Ruto and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa during the handover of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa  chairmanship at the bloc’s 25th Summit of Heads of State and Government in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Thursday, October 22, 2026. [PCS]

President William Ruto has handed over the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) chairmanship to Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Ruto took over the one-year chairmanship from Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye at the 24th COMESA Summit in Nairobi on October 9, 2025.

His tenure focused on using digital technology to deepen regional integration, expand trade and promote inclusive growth.

He handed over the role on Thursday, October 22, during the 25th Comesa Summit of Heads of State and Government in Harare, Zimbabwe, where he urged the regional bloc to fast-track a market levy to finance its programmes and institutions.

“We cannot be ambitious in our plans and timid in our financing. Every programme we agree upon must be matched by the resources to deliver it. Otherwise, our communiqués will promise what our budgets cannot pay for,” Ruto said.

He urged the Comesa Secretariat to fast-track Article 168 of the COMESA Treaty, which provides for the Comesa Market Levy, as the organisation seeks sustainable and predictable financing.

The treaty establishes the levy to generate resources for financing the bloc’s activities.

Ruto said officials from finance ministries, central banks and other relevant agencies would meet to consider a draft COMESA Resource Mobilisation Strategy aimed at strengthening member states’ ownership of regional programmes and finding new ways to raise funds.

He called on member states to make financing central to their discussions, warning that the bloc’s institutions and integration agenda would depend on their ability to fund agreed commitments.

“Can we finance what we commit, and deliver what we finance?” he asked.

Ruto also urged African countries to channel more of their domestic financial resources into African institutions rather than leaving funds in foreign accounts while development projects lack capital.

He said Africa holds more than $4 trillion in domestic financial assets, arguing that regional financial institutions could mobilise more of these resources to support trade, infrastructure and development.

Ruto named the Trade and Development Bank (TDB), the African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI) and ZEP-RE among the institutions that could mobilise capital for regional priorities.

He urged African governments to place more reserves with these institutions, finance more projects through them and support their bonds and guarantees.

The outgoing Comesa chairperson said the bloc needed stronger regional value chains and more trade among member states as global supply chains faced disruption and protectionism returned.

“Regional integration is no longer a dream we discuss. It is an economic and strategic necessity,” he noted.

Ruto said Comesa’s economic growth rose from 5.6 per cent in 2024 to 6.4 per cent in 2025, while inflation fell from 31 per cent to 13.2 per cent.

Exports among member states increased by 10.5 per cent to $14.7 billion, their highest level between 2020 and 2025, while exports to global markets rose by 6 per cent to $212 billion, he said.

He argued that African countries needed to process more raw materials locally instead of exporting them and importing finished products.

“To every partner who seeks our minerals, our markets and our young workforce, our offer is clear: invest with us, process with us, build with us,” Ruto added.

He called for partnerships based on mutual benefit and equal treatment, saying African countries should have a greater role in determining how their resources and markets contribute to economic development.