The Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs of Burundi takes part in the 18th meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers of COMESA

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation of the Republic of Burundi His Excellency Ambassador Albert SHINGIRO took part in the 18th meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa which took place in Lusaka, on June 6, 2023.

This meeting took place within the framework of the preparation of the 22nd COMESA summit which will also take place in Lusaka, on June 8, 2023 under the theme “Economic integration for a prosperous COMESA, anchored on green investment, value added and tourism”.

On behalf of the 21 COMESA member countries namely: Burundi, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Union of Comoros, Zambia and Zimbabwe, His Excellency Albert SHINGIRO pronounced a motion of thanks to Zambia, a host country of this meeting.

In this motion, the Minister Albert SHINGIRO indicated that the COMESA region needs harmony, peace and security for its survival and the future of the current and future generations. She also needs support and understanding to overcome its disabilities. For him, the time has come to pool efforts for the restoration of peace in certain member countries such as the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and to support the transition process and democracy in other countries, because the economic and trade integration that these COMESA member countries seek can only be possible in an environment free from wars and political tensions, conducive to the business climate, the promotion of the private sector and a free movement of goods, people and expenditures in the COMESA space.

All peace-loving countries are called upon to support ongoing efforts to address persistent challenges and thereby alleviate the suffering, pain and grief of people in eastern DRC. According to His Excellency Ambassador Albert SHINGIRO, the best way to achieve this is to tackle the root causes of conflicts, namely poverty, unemployment affecting African youth, the fight against corruption, economic embezzlement, brain and capital drain, the illicit and illegal exploitation of natural resources, the lack of good political, economic and administrative governance, social inequalities and exclusions and the imbalance of relations with COMESA partners.

Success in addressing the root causes of conflict will lead to the effective promotion of foreign direct investment, intra-African trade and with the rest of the world, technology transfer, development of physical and digital infrastructure such as construction of land, rail, air and sea bridges to facilitate the movement of goods, people and capital between African countries.

It should be noted that the Burundian Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Ambassador Albert SHINGIRO was elected Vice-President of COMESA.