1

COMESA weekly newsletter eThis bulletin is published by the COMESA Secretariat Corporate Communications Unit but does not necessarily represent views of the Secretariat. For Feedback: pr@comesa.int

Contact Address : COMESA SECRETARIAT, COMESA Center , Ben Bella Road P.O. Box 30051, +260 211 229 725, +260 211 225 107

www.comesa.int; email: e-COMESA@comesa.int

Issue #: 539_4th December 2017

to page 2

Countries Seek Funds to Finish the $1.2b Regional Power Interconnector

The final phase of the implementation of the 2,300km Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya (ZTK) power

interconnector will soon be underway following a meeting between the countries and potential financiers for the remaining phase of the project.

Dubbed, the Financiers Conference, the meeting took place in Livingstone, Zambia, 29 – 30 November 2017 where the three project countries presented their status of implementation reports and financial requirements to complete the remaining sections.

The ZTK is a $1.2 billion priority project of the tripartite group comprising COMESA, East Africa Community and Southern Africa Development Community as well as the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) under the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the Africa Power Vision.

It involves the construction of bidirectional high voltage power transmission lines and associated substations

Delegates at the Zambia - Tanzania - Kenya Power Interconnector Financiers Conference

from Kabwe in Zambia through Tanzania and terminating at Isinya in Kenya. The European Union under the 10th European Development Fund provided the initial financing of 4.4 million Euros for the preparatory activities of the project.

Currently, the Kenya section is fully financed and already under construction. Zambia requires $160m for the uncommitted parts and the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have expressed interest to finance the remaining sections. Tanzania is also in discussion with the World Bank and the French Development Bank (AFD) for $425m needed to complete its section of the project.

Implementation of the project began in 2014, when Ministers in charge of energy from the three states signed an Intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding which required each country build infrastructure within its boundaries. Further, it required the countries to put in place a Project Management Unit, with Zambia responsible for the overall coordination.

The countries were also required to establish trading mechanisms. The Ministers set December 2018 as the date of its commissioning.

The ZTK seeks to interconnect the three countries and create a link between the Southern African Power Pool and the East African Power Pool thus making it possible to transmit power from the Cape to Cairo. Upon completion, the project is expected to enhance electricity trade, improve security of electricity supply and foster social-economic development and regional integration.

At the opening of the financiers’ conference, on 29 November 2017, the Vice President of Zambia Mrs. Inonge Wina said there could never be any meaningful development if African countries ignored investment in power generation. In a speech presented by the Minister in the office of the Vice President Sylvia Chalikosa, the Vice President said African countries should continue investing in power generation to promote development on the continent.

2

COMESA weekly newslettere

continued from page 1

“This project will stimulate and support new investment in power generation, transmission, distribution and rural electrification infrastructure,” she said.

Zambia has constructed the first 400km 330 kv line from Pensulo to Kasama including the expansion of the substations which were commissioned in 2015, according to Zambia’s Energy Minister David Mabumba. In his statement at the Conference, the Minister urged cooperating partners to provide financing for the remaining sections in Zambia.

The NEPAD Head of Regional Integration, Infrastructure and Trade Programme Mr. Symerre Grey Johnson said lack of electricity in Africa remains one of the biggest barriers to the continent’s economic development and prosperity.

“Africa has immense green energy potential that could be economically exploited,” Mr. Johnson who also represented the COMESA Secretary General Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya said.

Other speakers at the conference included the Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet of Zambia, Mr. Chistopher Mvunga and Mr. Henry Karanja representing the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, Kenya.

Development partners supporting the ZTK project include the European Union, the Africa Development Bank, the World Bank and EU. Others are the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and European Investment Bank a(EIB), China’s First Overseas Infrastructure Development (COIDIC) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

“Africa has immense green energy potential that could be economically exploited,” Mr. Johnson

Countries Seek Funds......

Secretary General of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), Dr Taieb Baccouche and senior official are on three days visit to the COMESA Secretariat to discuss possible areas of co-operation between the two regional

economic groupings.

The AMU delegation will have consultative meetings with technical officers at the Secretariat. Among the potential areas of cooperation to be discussed is in the agriculture sector, intra-regional economic communities and investments in the banking and manufacturing sectors.

Receiving the delegation, COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya pledged COMESA’s support in areas where his organization has comparative advantage whilst learning from the AMU.

“It is good to note that one of your members, Tunisia, is soon to become a member of COMESA and Algeria has also expressed interest to join,” he said.

Dr Taieb Baccouche appreciated the opportunity to visit COMESA which he said will lead to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two regional economic communities

Arab Maghreb Union Seeks Collaboration with COMESA

(L-R): Secretary General of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), Dr Taieb Baccouche, COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya and Mr Julien Razafintsalama

Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and COMESA senior officials with the two Secretaries General

3

e

A regional approach towards addressing the adverse effects of climate change is needed owing to the

interconnectivity of national and regional systems. This was one of the resolutions of the first COMESA Resilience Academy that took place in Lusaka, Zambia, 28 – 30 November 2017.

The aim of the three- day forum was to build the capacity of COMESA Member States to adapt and thrive in the face of stresses and shocks that are increasingly becoming common owing to climatic changes.

The Academy which is an initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation and COMESA brought together senior officials from ministries responsible for planning, disaster management and mitigation units, agriculture, environment and health as well as stakeholders who play a key role in mainstreaming resilience and domestication of the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction.

At the opening of the Academy, the Vice President of Zambia Mrs. Inonge Wina welcomed the initiative as it provides an opportunity for developing a regional framework to guide all resilience building activities.

“I’m confident that the forum shall come up with a blue print that integrates all our past achievements and future aspirations into one overall and coherent resilience building agenda,” Mrs. Wina said in a speech

plague and plant pests.

“Not only should the national systems be resilient in themselves, but the interconnected regional systems must also have inbuilt resilience of their own,” Ngwenya said in the statement presented by the COMESA Climate Change Advisor Dr Mclay Kanyangarara.

The Associate Director at the Rockefeller Foundation Africa Regional Office, Ms. Betty Kibaara told the delegates that her organization has invested more than half a billion US Dollars globally in partnerships and initiatives to help individuals, communities and countries build their economic, social and climate resilience.

She noted that as resilience is built, entities become more capable of preventing or mitigating the stress and shocks and are better placed to respond to situations which can be predicated.

She said: “Adopting a resilience framework also helps develop greater capacity to recover from a crisis, learn from it and achieve revitalization.”

At the end of the academy, the participants were able to identify gaps and opportunities of resilience mainstreaming at national and regional levels and subsequently as well as develop back-to-office action plans.

delivered by Local Government Minister, Hon. Vincent Mwale.

Lack or weak resilience found mostly in poor developing countries, she noted, robbed the region the capacity and resources for development as most funds are diverted to disaster recovery.

“Building adaptive capacities across the region was the surest way to achieve development despite the ever-present threats,” she noted.

Currently, the COMESA region does not have a common framework for managing risks, shocks and stresses even as the frequency and intensity of loss and damage occasioned by climate change and other external factors continues to rise.

In his statement, COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya cautioned that although the advancement of globalization and regional integration, trade and investments, positively contributed to interconnectivity of national and regional systems, instability in one part of the system would have a global ripple effect.

“For instance, the recent global financial crises started in the US but had a contagion effect on everyone,” he said. He cited air travel, surface and maritime transport connection as catalysts in the internationalization of diseases such as influenza, Ebola, bird flu, swine fever,

Experts Lobby for a Regional Framework to Build Resilience on Climate Change

Delegates at the first COMESA Resilience Academy

4

COMESA weekly newslettere

The Bureau of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks has urges all member Central Banks

to sensitize stakeholders to promote use of the Regional Payment and Settlement System (REPSS). The REPSS is a Multilateral Netting System with end-of-day settlement in a single currency in a multicurrency environment.

At the 38th meeting of the Bureau of the COMESA Committee of Central Bank Governors that took place in Bujumbura, Burundi, on 29th November 2017, the Governors appreciated the progress so far achieved in the implementation of COMESA’s Monetary Integration Programme.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Burundi Mr. Jean CIZA who is also the Chairman of the COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks, underscored the importance of implementation of REPSS to promote intra-regional trade and urged all COMESA member central banks to expeditiously use it for payments.

He urged central banks that went live on REPSS to conduct sensitization workshops among their stakeholders to promote the use/uptake of the system.In his remarks, the COMESA Assistant Secretary General

(Programmes), Ambassador Dr. Kipyego Cheluget, said member countries had reported favourable macroeconomic performance in 2016 despite emerging development challenges in the region.

He said it was within the mandate of the Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors of member countries to explore alternative financing mechanism along the lines of what was currently being pursued by the African Union Commission. He cited the Community Levy provided for in the Treaty as one way of financing regional integration programmes.

He said: “It is important for COMESA to have guaranteed, predictable and adequate financial resources for the smooth execution of its regional integration agenda.”

Underscoring the importance of the activities of COMESA Clearing House and COMESA Monetary Institute, Dr Cheluget said this will enhance the implementation of the COMESA Monetary Integration Agenda. He therefore urged all member Central Banks to fully utilize the REPSS for payment of all their intra-COMESA transactions.

Regarding the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), he

informed the meeting that 21 countries had so signed the agreement while two; Egypt and Uganda had ratified it.

During the meeting, Governors discussed the activities undertaken by COMESA Monetary Institute (CMI) and COMESA Clearing House (CCH) in 2017. They agreed on the importance of REPSS to the expansion of intra-COMESA trade.

The Governors observed that the research and capacity building activities of CMI contributed to the improvement of macroeconomic management and assessment of financial system stability in member countries. They also agreed that greater monetary integration is a prerequisite for the success of COMESA Free Trade Area, Customs Union and the plan to establish the Common Market and economic community.

Governors and Experts from the Central Banks of Burundi, Congo DR, Djibouti, Egypt, and Sudan, attended the meeting.

Governors Lobby for Regional Payment System to Facilitate Intra-COMESA Trade

COMESA Committee of Governors of Central Banks meeting

5

COMESA weekly newsletter e

Investing in off-grid solutions using renewable energies would save US$35,000 per kilometer for transmission

lines, COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya told delegates attending the 10th Anniversary of the Africa – European Union Energy Partnership in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, last week.

He said that financing and business models for off-grid electrification, through green energy technologies such as solar, wind, geothermal, should include the community owned mini-grid management. He proposed for further exploration of the utility-based model, private sector-led mini-grids, and also hybrid models which would try to combine different approaches.

“Energy linkages to other sectors, in particular, renewable energy such as solar, wind, geothermal small hydro power, etc., could be used to support public uses such as lighting and vocational teaching in schools, sterilization, refrigeration and other usages in health clinics, public water systems, and street lighting,” Mr. Ngwenya said.

“The low population density in Africa would require massive investment to increase the access to energy,” the Secretary General stated. “The productive uses of electricity in agro-industries could be significant and these benefits could be related to the expansions in

Green Energy in Focus as AU – EU Celebrates 10 Years of Partnership

output and the existence of a market for the output, as well as employment expansion.”

Mr. Ngwenya stressed the need to ensure that Africa takes the advantage of the different financing windows available such as the one trillion dollars from climate change to leapfrog to increase access to electricity.

On Africa-EU Energy Partnership Perspectives, the Secretary General indicated that over the 10 years of Africa-EU Energy Partnership, substantial progress between Africa and Europe has been realized. This range from political declarations and agreements to technical assistance and actual projects in the African countries. The AEEP’s objective is to improve access to secure, affordable and sustainable energy for both continents, with a special focus on increasing investment in energy infrastructure in Africa. The AEEP Steering Group is comprised of the European Commission, the African Union Commission, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Egypt, Germany and Italy.

The Secretary General assured of COMESA’s willingness to continue supporting the Africa EU Energy Partnership in the development of legal and institutional frameworks for public private sector partnerships. This he noted,

would increase the private sector participation in infrastructure development and especially in the energy sector.

The African perspective on the way forward in this partnership was to pursue the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 7 to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Other speakers included Mr. Stefano Manservisi, Director General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), European commission; Ambassador Sergio Mercuri, Minister Plenipotentiary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy and Mr. Cheikh Bedda, Director of Infrastructure and Energy, African Union Commission.

The AEEP event at the EU-Africa Business Forum was attended by representatives of the private sector who are engaged in the Partnership’s work, as well as other stakeholder’s central to the achievement of the AEEP 2020 Targets. The key messages and conclusions of the AEEP event, together with those of other sessions at the EU-Africa Business Forum, will feed into the AU-EU Summit.

COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya