By Patriot Corps
Bujumbura, Burundi – October 31, 2024
In a powerful address delivered on behalf of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni by Uganda’s Vice President, Maj. Rtd. Jessica Alupo, at the 23rd Summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Uganda emphasized the urgency of deepening regional integration and shifting away from a dependency on primary commodities. Speaking on the theme, “Accelerating Regional Integration through the Development of Regional Value Chains in Climate Resilient Agriculture, Mining, and Tourism,” Museveni, through Alupo, urged COMESA leaders to focus on industrialization and value addition to achieve sustainable growth across the region.
Museveni conveyed gratitude to Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema for his leadership and congratulated Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye as he assumed the role of COMESA Chair. Museveni stressed that Africa’s continued reliance on raw goods—such as unprocessed agricultural products and minerals—leads to economic stagnation and vulnerability, citing the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis, which warns of long-term declines in commodity prices.
“Our usefulness to each other as COMESA members does not lie in our geographical closeness but in our ability to solve each other’s problems,” he declared. He urged COMESA leaders to look beyond national interests and take collective steps toward industrialization, suggesting that processing even a fraction of the region’s copper could add $15 billion annually to COMESA’s GDP.
Pointing to statistics, Museveni highlighted that intra-COMESA trade stands at just 7%, while intra-EU trade is 65% and ASEAN reaches 25%, suggesting that COMESA nations should view each other as essential economic allies rather than competitors.
He urged governments to support the private sector in building a unified, robust market by investing in infrastructure, including roads, railways, airways, and digital networks, and by eliminating non-tariff trade barriers that restrict growth.
“A continent and people that cannot feed itself cannot guarantee its own future,” Museveni remarked as he outlined the importance of agriculture. He announced Uganda’s upcoming hosting of the African Union’s Extraordinary Assembly in Kampala, where African leaders will endorse the next ten-year Action Plan for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), aimed at creating resilient agri-food systems to promote self-reliance and security across Africa.
As the summit closed, Museveni’s words left a clear call to action for COMESA members: prioritize unity, harness Africa’s potential, and develop sustainable industries to secure the continent’s future.