The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Africa’s largest trading bloc, announced on Friday the development of an online portal for its members to exchange information on the availability of essential products for the region.
According to a statement, the launch of this online portal is a response to calls from the COMESA Council of Ministers in May this year, which called for the development of the platform to support regional trade during the COVID-19 pandemic.
COMESA Secretary General Chileshe Kapwepwe, who launched the prototype of the platform in a virtual meeting with representatives of member countries, said the platform would allow members to share information on products and their potential for production and supply of different types of goods.
The platform, she said, will coordinate with the private sector to fill it with information on essential supplies, which should boost local production and address supply shortages from outside of the country. the region.
The platform will also connect buyers with suppliers of essential goods, thereby promoting and encouraging intra-COMESA regional trade, she said. It will also help small border traders and small and medium-sized enterprises to access market information and to link producers, sellers and buyers, she added.
According to Ms Kapwepwe, measures implemented by members, such as closing borders to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, has slowed economic activity and severely affected cross-border trade.
She stressed that the implementation of the digital trade facilitation program and other instruments, as well as the liberalization of services, remained essential to strengthen the region’s stability in the face of external shocks.