Uganda will host the 16th Summit of
the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Heads of State and
Government on 23rd-24th November, 2012. The 16th COMESA Summit will
be held under the “Enhancing Intra-COMESA Trade Through MSMEs Development,” as a
way of emphasizing the importance and central role that Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSMEs) are playing in the economies of our Member States. This is
good news because it shows that the leaders of COMESA are now finally embarking
on promoting MSMEs and enabling them to access the intra-regional market.
An EAC study of 2010 indicates that the MSMEs sub-sector is the biggest employer
and constitutes about 90% of the private sector in the EAC region with
contributions to GDP of 20% in Uganda, 33% in Tanzania and 50% in Kenya.
Despite this significance of the MSMEs, the report shows that the subsector is
sometimes regarded as constituting survivalist entities operated by school
leavers and job seekers awaiting formal employment, retirees, retrenchees or
people supplementing their low incomes from formal jobs.
The study also
shows that the activities in MSMEs are mostly
characterized by easy entry and exit, self-employment with a high proportion of
family workers and apprentices, reliance on indigenous resources, small scale
of operation with little capital and equipment, high labour intensity, limited
adaptation of modern technology, low skills with acquisition of skills mostly
outside the formal schooling system, lack of access to organized markets for
key resources (financial markets, education and training) and lack of access to
supporting services. According to the study the subsector is seen as
functioning as a fallback position. This outlook has sometimes not helped to
develop MSMEs especially micro into dynamic private sector activities.
It is therefore well-timed
for the 16th COMESA Summit to seize this opportunity and recorgonise
the role played by the MSMEs. If implemented, the measures to be put in place
by the heads of state should put the COMESA region on the right path to
achieving sustainable development. COMESA needs to attain competitive intra-regional
trade and investment in order to achieve its development goals. The 16th
COMESA Summit should therefore development measures to support Member States enhancing
the capacity of entrepreneurs especially the small and medium enterprises with
a view to enabling the region attain market competitiveness supported by high-tech
production and inter-connected market systems.
COMESA and the Member States must support the MSMEs
to enable them meaningfully become the private sector sought to be the backbone
of the economy. Effective measures are required to support the MSMEs in; ensuring
that production is aligned to market standards, harmonizing policies and
regulations impacting on both internal and cross border trade and investment; facilitating
the free and faster flow of goods and services; improving information flow of
market opportunities; improving and simplifying access to trade finance; opening
and widening portential investment and trade opportunities; enabling transfer
of appropriate technology and promoting regional business linkages and
transactions, among others
The 16th COMESA Summit is expected to
among others discuss the COMESA Free Trade area, COMESA Customs Union and the
EAC, SADC, COMESA Tripartite free trade area. Other issues that are likely to
be on the agenda include reports on the directive by the Heads of State to the
COMESA to work with member states in the establishment of Science, Technology
and Innovation Parks, and priority industry clusters and the development of
mechanism for exchange and sharing of experiences amongst Member States
At the sidelines of the Summit, the private
sector will hold a business forum under theme “Promoting Intra-COMESA Trade
through Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development – Seizing Opportunities
for Innovation and Prosperity in Business”. The forum presents an opportunity
for the private sector form the COMESA region to dialogue and work with
Governments in determining policy interventions necessary to create an enabling
business environment. This forum should help bring out relevant regulatory
reforms and interventions that for COMESA to undertake in promoting the growth
and emancipation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The forum should also review
and come up with clear and robust innovative ideas and conventional ways of
strengthening the SMEs in order to attain meaningful intra-regional trade and
sustainable regional development.
