Oliver Kazunga-Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE has assumed the chairmanship of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, with Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira calling on African countries to prioritise peace, economic development and home-grown solutions to the continent’s challenges.
The chairmanship places Zimbabwe at the centre of regional efforts to strengthen peace and security, deepen economic integration, and accelerate poverty eradication across member states.
Addressing the opening session of the 21st Meeting of COMESA Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Mount Hampden yesterday, Prof Murwira called on African countries to resist being drawn into geopolitical rivalries and instead focus on addressing their people’s development needs.
Conflicts and insecurity continue to undermine regional integration, disrupt economic activity, and deepen poverty.
“We are Africa. And as Africa, we should resist being part of geopolitical contests. We have a continent to manage. We have our people to feed. We have our people to keep. We have our people to give respect to.
“We neither look East, nor look West, nor look South, nor look North. We look at ourselves and we must help ourselves.”
Prof Murwira said sustainable development depends on peace and security. African countries must strengthen their capacity to resolve conflicts through dialogue, preventive diplomacy, and cooperation among regional institutions.
COMESA’s integration agenda should ultimately improve livelihoods, with poverty eradication remaining the bloc’s central objective.
“Comesa is a strategy to eradicate poverty. Poverty is our enemy and prosperity is our objective,” said Prof Murwira.
Armed conflicts are destroying infrastructure, disrupting trade, discouraging investment, displacing communities, and weakening productive capacity, creating a cycle where insecurity fuels poverty, while poverty deepens instability.
“Peace and security are the bedrock for sustainable development, economic integration and shared prosperity,” said Prof Murwira.
Greater investment in early-warning and early-response systems, mediation, and preventive diplomacy are needed to address the underlying political, social, and economic causes of conflict before they escalate.
He questioned the continued flow of weapons into conflict-affected areas, arguing that Africa needs resources and equipment for production rather than destruction.
“We don’t need guns, but ploughs.”
Prof Murwira challenged African leaders to confront the sources of weapons fuelling conflicts and establish who is supplying and supporting the fighting.
Those involved in conflicts must cease hostilities, protect civilians, embrace dialogue, and allow unhindered humanitarian access to affected communities.
“We already fought our wars of liberation. That was it.
“That must be the end. Now it’s time for peace, not to turn against each other,” said Prof Murwira.
Regional integration should extend beyond expanding markets, facilitating trade, and attracting investment to deliver tangible improvements in people’s living standards, particularly for young people.
The Minister envisions a continent where people can work, trade, invest, and reside freely across national borders, with boundaries serving administrative purposes rather than obstructing economic activity.
“Let our borders be administrative borders, not trade borders. One market, one future,” said Prof Murwira.
Turning to COMESA member states, he said they must deepen intra-African trade, strengthen regional value chains, improve infrastructure connectivity, and expand energy cooperation and food security to reduce vulnerability to external economic shocks.
No country can adequately protect itself from global disruptions by acting alone, making collective regional responses increasingly important.
Africa’s security environment is becoming more complex, with terrorism, violent extremism, organised crime, human and drug trafficking, cyber threats, illicit financial flows, and climate-related insecurity increasingly crossing national borders.
There is a need for stronger intelligence and information-sharing mechanisms, improved border management, and measures to address socio-economic vulnerabilities, particularly among young people.
Peace initiatives must be linked directly to economic development so that citizens experience tangible benefits through improved livelihoods and greater opportunities.
“Peace must ultimately deliver tangible dividends to our people. Our citizens must experience peace not only as the absence of conflict but as a driver for prosperity,” he said.
Closer cooperation is required between COMESA, the African Union, regional economic communities, and other partners to resolve conflicts and strengthen Africa’s collective response to insecurity.
Invoking the legacy of African liberation leaders and founding fathers, including Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, and Kenneth Kaunda, Prof Murwira urged current leaders to pursue their vision of a more integrated and prosperous continent.
“Let’s manage our anger. Let’s manage our emotions. Let’s give in to the demands of our people for peace and let’s lead from that perspective,” he said.
COMESA secretary-general Ms Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe said the meeting comes at a critical time, as the region faces an increasingly complex security environment characterised by armed conflicts, political instability, electoral contestations, piracy, climate-related insecurity, irregular migration, and economic shocks.
Article 3(d) of the COMESA Treaty recognises peace and security as fundamental prerequisites for sustainable regional integration and economic development.
Ms Kapwepwe said the meeting provides an opportunity for ministers to assess the evolving security situation, review progress, and agree on practical measures to prevent and manage conflicts.
Regional security remains volatile, with progress in some areas accompanied by renewed violence and unresolved political and security challenges elsewhere.
In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, persistent armed conflict and its humanitarian consequences continue to affect regional stability, population movements, and cross-border economic activity.
She highlighted the need to consolidate peace in Ethiopia, address political transition and security challenges in Somalia, and resolve persistent political fragmentation and insecurity in Libya.
The conflict in Sudan remains one of the region’s most devastating challenges, with large-scale displacement and humanitarian consequences extending beyond its borders.
“Conflicts within our region rarely remain confined within national borders,” Ms Kapwepwe said.
COMESA should complement the efforts of member states, the African Union, other regional economic communities, and international partners while promoting African ownership of solutions to the continent’s challenges.
Ms Kapwepwe said emerging security threats require a broader response that considers economic shocks, climate change, food and energy insecurity, organised crime, terrorism, cyber threats, and geopolitical competition.
The United States-Israel war against Iran, although outside the bloc’s immediate geographical area, has demonstrated how global developments can affect regional economies through higher fuel and fertiliser prices, increased freight costs, insurance premiums, and exchange-rate pressures.
She urged member states to diversify energy sources, reduce excessive dependence on single sources of critical imports, expand intra-COMESA trade, and improve transport and logistics corridors.
At the close of the meeting, incoming vice-chairperson of the COMESA Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Zambia’s Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister, Mulambo Haimbe, thanked Zimbabwe for hosting the gathering and extending hospitality to visiting delegations.
He thanked President Mnangagwa, the incoming chairperson of the COMESA Authority, and Prof Murwira for their leadership during the meeting.
Minister Haimbe said the deliberations demonstrated the importance of unified action.
Source: Zim takes over Comesa foreign affairs council – herald
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