BUJUMBURA, March 28th (ABP) – The President of the Republic, Evariste Ndayishimiye, received in audience, on Thursday 27 March 2025, Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe, Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), according to local sources.
In an interview with the media at the end of the audience, Rosine Guilène Gatoni, spokeswoman for the Head of State, said that the COMESA Secretary General had come to present a report detailing the progress made in regional integration, as well as the activities already accomplished.
That report highlights future prospects for strengthening the region’s effective integration, based on the theme for the year: “accelerating regional integration through the development of value chains in sectors such as mining, tourism, climate change resilient agriculture and others”.
On that occasion, according to Gatoni, the Secretary General of COMESA also presented the Head of State with a strategic plan for the period 2026-2030, which will focus on several key priorities for regional integration. That plan will focus primarily on developing trade, improving productivity and social inclusion. Particular attention will also be paid to women and children, who are seen as key players in the development of regional value chains. The plan also aims to ensure that all sections of the people benefit from regional integration projects and initiatives.
She added that the COMESA Secretary General also presented the major regional and international meetings at which the Head of State, in his capacity as President of the COMESA Conference of Heads of State and Government, is invited to represent the region. Those are summits notably within the framework of the African Union and cooperation with other States.
On that occasion, according to Gatoni, Kapwepwe congratulated the Head of State of Burundi on his election as Deputy Chairman of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the African Union. An election that once again shows the confidence that African states have in him, and an election that makes COMESA proud, she stressed.
According to Gatoni, the audience was an opportunity for the Head of State to reiterate his personal commitment, and Burundi’s commitment, to making an active contribution to regional integration. The audience underlined the need to develop trade, to improve the living conditions of the people and, above all, to make the free movement of goods and people a tangible reality in the region, she concluded.