• Zimbabwe begins hosting the COMESA summit programme on Monday ahead of Thursday’s leaders’ meeting
• Exports to COMESA reached US$222 million in 2025, rising 10.4% from the preceding year
• Border costs, product standards and production capacity will determine the value retained from regional access

Harare - Zimbabwe begins hosting the COMESA summit programme on 19 October, placing regional trade, industrialisation and investment at the centre of four days of business and government meetings that conclude with the heads of state summit on Thursday.

The programme includes Green Industry Connect, the 19th COMESA Business Forum and Exhibition at the Harare International Conference Centre, a foreign affairs ministers’ meeting and the 25th COMESA heads of state summit at Parliament. Organisers expect more than 1,000 business leaders, investors, policymakers and development partners to participate in the business forum and exhibition.

Zimbabwe enters the meetings seeking to expand sales into a regional market that remains small relative to its economic size. ZimTrade recorded exports of US$222 million to COMESA in 2025, a 10.4% increase from US$201 million in 2024.

The growth provides a starting point for the Harare meetings. The US$222 million figure remains modest against a COMESA market of more than 640 million people and combined gross domestic product of about US$1 trillion.

COMESA recorded about US$14 billion in intra-regional exports during 2024, against total exports to the world of US$202 billion. Trade among member states therefore accounted for less than 7% of the bloc’s merchandise exports, placing the summit’s “One Market, One Future” theme inside a large commercial gap.

Zimbabwe’s latest monthly trade data shows the product concentration inside its regional sales. Exports to COMESA reached US$61.9 million in January 2026, led by iron and steel products at 44.2%, coke and semi-coke at 23.7%, bituminous coal at 12.8% and tobacco at 12.3%.

January’s export value equalled more than a quarter of the US$222 million achieved during the full 2025 calendar year. A single month does not establish a full-year trade trend. The product mix establishes the immediate challenge for Zimbabwe, which needs to increase recurring sales of manufactured and processed goods alongside mineral and coal-based exports.

Regional demand can support food processing, beverages, packaging, building materials, agricultural inputs, engineering products, household goods, pharmaceuticals and business services. These sectors carry a wider domestic transmission than raw commodity exports because they require local suppliers, factory labour, distribution networks, transport, finance and after-sales support.

The commercial opportunity comes with a competitiveness test. A preferential tariff rate offers limited value when documentation takes days, trucks face multiple border charges, product standards are not recognised or the exporter cannot finance inventory and customer credit.

COMESA identifies rules of origin, lengthy customs procedures, additional taxes and other charges as the main non-tariff barriers facing regional traders. These expenses determine the landed price paid by a buyer in Lusaka, Nairobi, Kigali or Kinshasa and can absorb the margin that makes a Zimbabwean product commercially viable.

Zimbabwe participates in the COMESA free trade area and is among the member states implementing the electronic certificate of origin. The electronic system is designed to verify the local content of goods and enable qualifying exporters to claim preferential treatment at destination markets.

Zimbabwe is also part of the COMESA electronic single-window programme, which brings trade documents and government approvals onto one platform. The commercial measure is border velocity. Faster processing reduces truck standing time, demurrage, inventory financing costs and the risk of missed delivery commitments.

The regional customs transit guarantee and COMESA carrier licence provide a further test for the Harare meetings. The guarantee reduces the bonds and collateral required for cargo passing through transit countries, while the carrier licence permits commercial vehicles to operate across member states and collect return loads.

Transport economics matter acutely for Zimbabwe because its manufacturers serve markets through long road and rail corridors. A truck that returns empty carries its full transport cost into the outgoing consignment. A functioning regional carrier system can spread that cost across two revenue-generating journeys.

The summit also carries an import-competition consequence. Lower regional trade costs can widen market access for Zimbabwean producers and bring more goods from industrial centres in Egypt, Kenya, Zambia and other COMESA economies into local shops and factories.

Zimbabwe’s response requires production capacity that can compete on price, quality and delivery. Industrial policy, power reliability, capital investment, certification and access to working capital will determine the ability of local firms to defend domestic demand and build regional sales.

Coca-Cola Africa’s sponsorship of the business forum brings a regional consumer-goods supply chain into the programme. The company’s presence across suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and logistics providers places packaging, ingredients, distribution and local production within the commercial discussions.

Sponsorship does not create a new investment commitment or export order. The relevant outcomes will be supplier agreements, distribution mandates, production partnerships and capital expenditure that move beyond the conference venue.

Green Industry Connect gives the programme another cost and competitiveness dimension. Resource efficiency, industrial waste management, circular production and energy-saving investment can reduce manufacturing costs and support compliance with buyer standards. Regional firms that lower water, electricity and raw-material intensity gain a stronger position in price-sensitive markets.

The 2026 start of trading under the Tripartite Free Trade Area also widens the strategic setting. The agreement connects COMESA, the East African Community and SADC, creating a larger framework for trade across 29 countries. Zimbabwe’s overlapping membership gives local firms access to more markets and increases the urgency of improving their capacity to compete.

Harare’s summit should therefore produce a measurable commercial agenda. Exporters need named buyers, purchase orders and distribution arrangements. Government needs time-bound commitments on certificates of origin, customs procedures, product standards, transit guarantees, transport corridors and payment systems.

The market record after the summit will sit in export contracts, investment commitments with financing structures, electronic certificates issued, border-clearance times and COMESA trade values. Zimbabwe has grown regional exports to US$222 million. The next test is turning a summit hosted in Harare into a larger and more diversified regional revenue base.

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