Ethiopia will host the 18th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Summit of Heads of State and Government which will take place on March 20-31 in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian News Agency reported Thursday.
At a press conference, State Minister of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), Ahmed Shide said the summit to be held under the theme “Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization” is expected to attract over one thousand participants.
The summit will comprise nine sessions, including an administrative and budget committee meeting, Ministers of foreign affairs meeting, Business forum meeting, and the First ladies roundtable meeting, among others.
The first ladies roundtable meeting will discuss the prevailing challenges women entrepreneurs are facing in the COMESA region and propose possible solutions, it was indicated.
The 11-day summit is also expected to discuss peace and security in the sub-region and seek solutions to the challenges as well as address key issues of negotiation on economic partnership agreement with Europe Union (EU).
The summit will discuss last year’s achievements and progress made by COMESA and look into the implementation status of the various relevant COMESA agreements, Ahmed stated.