BIZNET - ANNUALSPOTLIGHT EDITION

The COMESA Business Council's year in review - 19th December 2019.

STRATEGIC HIGHLIGHTS

Inter-COMESA Institutional Collaborations

CBC has collaborated with 5 COMESA institutions atthe Source 21 International Trade Fair and High-LevelBusiness Summit. This was in the capacity of panelists,exhibitors and sponsors. They are: - ZEP�RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) - ATI (African Trade Insurance Agency) - TDB (Trade Development Bank - CCC (COMESA Competition Commission) - COMESA Court of Justice (CC�)

Four young entrepreneurs in the sectors of honey,organic foods, textiles and renewable energy weresponsored to exhibit their products.

CEO'S MESSAGE

Compliments of the season to you all! I hope you’re celebrating ingood spirits with family and loved ones.

At this festive time, we can re�lect back on what has been atremendous year for CBC, for we have recorded great successes inmany of our activities. I would like to take this opportunity to expressmy gratitude to you, our stakeholders, for your partnership in ourinitiatives, and for your continued commitment to private sectorgrowth in the region.

With a few days to the end of the year, I'd like to invite you to join usas we review, in this edition, some of our key highlights from the lasttwelve months.

Thank you for your continued support and on behalf of the Executive Board of Directors, I would like to wish all ourpartners, friends and families a very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year.

Sandra Uwera, CEO, CBC

Source 21 COMESA International Trade Fair andHigh-Level Business Summit in July 2019.

CBC in partnership with the Kenya Association ofManufacturers, the Government of the Republic ofKenya and COMESA, together convened the Source21 International Trade Fair and High-Level BusinessSummit in July 2019.

-  4 Heads of State participated, -  13 ministers and diplomatic o��icials participated, and 4 Ministers shared their expertise as speakers.

1. BUSINESS POLICY & ADVOCACY

Tobacco Sustainability in Africa:A Business Outlook on theSocial, Economic andEnvironmental Impact ofTobacco Farming in the Easternand Southern African Regions.

Promoting Agro-Industry SupplyChains along the TransportCorridors of Eastern and

Southern Africa.

ZEP�RE and TDB participated in a pitching session onaccessing �inance and providing advisory to the youngentrepreneurs.

Studies and Reports

CBC completed the following studies and reports to inform business policy:

Promoting Agro-Industry SupplyChains along the TransportCorridors of Eastern andSouthern Africa.

Business Trader Observer(BTO); An annual survey ofbusiness impediments alongtrade and transport corridors inCOMESA.

CBC Business Integrity Project on anti-corruption compliancefor businesses.A draft Regional Code on Anti-corruption compliance forbusinesses, informed by 4 national country studies and researchcovering the rest of the COMESA countries, has beendeveloped.

In honour of the recent International Anti-Corruption Day, weare to present the draft Regional Code to the CBC AnnualGeneral Meeting for validation and adoption.

Business Trader Observer (BTO):An annual survey of businessimpediments along trade and

transport corridors in COMESA.

CBC Trade and Market Briefs

CBC policy position report presented at the 3rd IndustrialTechnical Committee and Council of Ministers Meetingsheld in June 2019; 5 position papers adopted.

CBC policy position report presented to the Trade andTrade Facilitation and Heads of Customs meetings held inKenya, in October 2019. The policy positions focused on therecommendations from the Source 21 Business Summit, onregional common payments, on a balanced regulation fortobacco and trade facilitation measures to tackle theimpediments businesses face in cross border trade.

CBC Digital Financial Inclusion Project for MSMEs

The Project’s goal is the development of a regionalcommon payment scheme supported by a model policyguideline that is adopted by the regulators in �inance,ICT and in collaboration with private sectorstakeholders such as mobile network operators andSMEs.

Currently ongoing through �ield missions is thedevelopment of Business Case Report to inform regionalpolicy in ten countries.

10 Trade and Market Briefs developed and disseminated, on product information, country trade performance, marketintelligence and regulatory re�uirements for trading in the region.

Local Sourcing for Partnerships Training andBusiness Linkages meetings in Uganda andZimbabwe.

-  140 SMEs trained on HACCP basic food safety management - 75 SMEs bene�ited from business linkages

2. BUSINESS FACILITATION

Training of Business AssociationsCBC partnered with ITC to carry out a benchmarkingtraining of Associations and to understand the serviceneeds of members; 15 Business associations trained.  

MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT3.

Source 21 High-LevelBusiness Summit:

Business AssociationTraining

July 2019

Membership CommunicationCBC Website and BIZNET upgraded. 

55 BIZNET newsletters developed and disseminated.

Sector Workgroup BulletinsSector-based Bulletins developed and disseminated highlighting updates on industry performance and trends for thefollowing Workgroups: Digital Services, Financial Services, Transport and Logistics, Manufacturers, Agro-Industryand Tourism.

Strengthened stakeholder engagements at an internationallevel

Meetings with Confederation of Indian Industries andparticipation in CII�EXIM Bank Regional Conclave onIndia – Southern Africa Project Partnership meetings.

MOU signed with CII to facilitate business linkages andpartnerships

CBC Strategic Review and Institutional Improvement We held a staff retreat in July 2019, where it reviewedthe strategic focus of the CBC and with the support ofITC managed to develop the PerformanceImprovement Roadmap which sets the priorities forimproving CBC operational e��iciency, clientmanagement system, results measuring andinstitutional sustainability.

INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT4.

CBC Digital Services StrategyCBC Digital Services Strategy has been recently developed. The strategy focuses on two priority areas: - External Business Processes; Digital solutions and services for CBC members and private sector - Internal Business Processes; SMART institutional and operations development for CBC.

Corporate Governance -  1 Board meeting held, -  1 Executive Committee Board meeting held - 4 Administrative committee meetings held. 

CBC has initiated a Young professional program tosupport young graduates or early professional anopportunity to be part and parcel of the BusinessCouncil and be exposed to issues of regionalintegration and private sector development from aregional perspective.

Strengthening Corporate Investment and Relations

One Young professional has been recruited fromJune to December 2019.

CBC joined the COMESA family incelebrating COMESA's 25th anniversary. Wewere also an event sponsor, in recognition ofthe continued partnership and support fromCOMESA to private sector developmentsince its inception.

On 19th December 2019, in the spirit ofChristmas, CBC visited and donated variousitems to the Vision of Hope home, a socialwelfare organisation that helps change the futureof girls in crisis.

Going forward CBC will has adopted this noblecause as one of it's annual activities.

CBC end of year Christmas party:We recently held a Christmas party earlier thismonth to celebrate the joyous season and torecognise the contributions made by our staff andteams, towards the successes of our initiatives inthe year.

We (over-) indulged in a lot of sweet treats -including a most delightful Christmas cake.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS - �OIN US IN 5. 2020!

CBC 15th Board Meeting & 9th Annual General Meeting  and Members Conference

The meeting will also focus on the presentation and adoption of theRegional Code on anti-corruption compliance for enterprises and thevalidation of the Business Trader Observer (BTO)

MARCH:Private–Dialogue, Validation Workshop, Consultancy Business CaseReport, and report on model on the CBC MSME Regional CommonPayment System

MARCH: Public Private Dialogue – consideration of model regional MSMEcommon payment regulatory guidelines and Implementationframework

APRIL: Travel 21 - COMESA Tourism Business Dialogue.

�ULY: COMESA Business Summit- Presentation of the Business Trader Observerreport.

SEPTEMBER: Sub- Regional Stakeholder Meetings on domestication of implementationframework- CBC Payment system business model

IN PICS 2019