During the 21st COMESA Heads of State Summit held in Cairo, Egypt on 23rd, November 2021, Burundi president Evariste Ndayishimiye called on Common Market for East and Southern African (COMESA) member states prioritize sustainable economic recovery in the post covid-19 pandemic.
Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye who attended the COMESA heads of state summit via a video conference said that member states needs a joint plan to an economic recovery.
“A joint action is imperative for solution of resilience and recovery of economies now that at half-mast following the covid-19,” said Burundi’s president.
President Ndayishimiye said that intra-region trade dropped significantly since 2020 when most of the African countries closed borders in efforts to contain the spread of covid-19.
“With regard to the regional integration, during this pandemic, there has been very little or no diversification of goods,” he noted.
The COMESA Secretary General Chilshe Kapwepwe said that the average growth of the COMESA region had slowed down to 0.6% in 2020, against 5.2% in 2019 and 6% in 2018 due to covid-19 pandemic.
The heads of 21 member states were been urged to support the Africa Covid-19 vaccine development and access strategy and expedite vaccine roll out as a sure path towards sustainable recovery.