Zimbabwe’s incoming chair of the COMESA Council of Ministers, Amon Murwira, has called for the removal of trade barriers across the regional bloc while questioning the foreign interests supplying weapons that fuel conflicts on the African continent.
Murwira made the remarks on Wednesday during the 21st COMESA Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden, where ministers are meeting ahead of Thursday’s Summit of Heads of State and Government.
“Let our borders be administrative borders, not trade borders. One market, one future,” Murwira said, urging member states to deepen regional integration beyond expanding markets and investment.
He said economic cooperation should ultimately improve people’s living standards, particularly those of young people, while ensuring that peace and security remain central to the region’s development agenda.
“Conflict must not be part of their daily lives. Peace must be part of their daily lives,” he said, stressing that regional integration could not be separated from the need to address insecurity and its economic and social consequences.
Murwira called for greater investment in early-warning and early-response systems, preventive diplomacy, mediation and dialogue to address the political, socioeconomic and developmental factors driving conflicts.
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“Let's focus on the root causes of conflict and uproot conflict,” he said, urging regional leaders to prioritise tackling poverty and addressing the humanitarian consequences of violence.
He also questioned the external interests behind the weapons used in African conflicts, challenging leaders to examine who manufactures and supplies the arms and who benefits from the violence.
“So whose guns are blazing in Africa? Whose factories are making the guns that are killing the Africans? Who is aiding this conflict? Do our people deserve it? We ask,” Murwira said.
His remarks placed peace and security alongside trade liberalisation as priorities for COMESA, which brings together 21 member states seeking to strengthen regional economic cooperation.
The Council of Ministers is the bloc’s second-highest policy-making organ, responsible for overseeing its general functioning and the implementation of agreed programmes and policies. It comprises designated ministers from the coordinating ministries of member states.
Zimbabwe is preparing to assume the chairmanship of COMESA at Thursday’s summit, with Murwira expected to lead the Council of Ministers.
The meeting comes as regional governments face the challenge of translating integration commitments into practical improvements in trade, investment, employment and living standards while addressing the conflicts and instability that undermine development.
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