IOM, COMESA Sign Milestone Agreement to Facilitate Formalised Small-Scale Cross-Border Trade
Lusaka – IOM and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretariat signed an Agreement to work together to implement a European Union funded project to facilitate small-scale cross-border trade flows. The Agreement was signed by COMESA’s General Secretary General, His Excellency Sindiso Ngwenya and IOM’s Regional Director for Southern Africa, Charles Kwenin, in Lusaka, Zambia on 8 June 2018. This follows the signing of a broader umbrella agreement between the European Union and COMESA for this project on 8 May 2018 at the Mwami Border between Zambia and Malawi.
The programme, which is financed under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), will increase formal small-scale cross-border trade flows in the COMESA/tripartite region. It will support institutional capacity building, improved border management and infrastructure and better data collection and monitoring. The aim is to increase revenue collection for governments at the borders and higher incomes for small-scale cross-border traders, thus contributing to development in the region.