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Distr. RESTRICTED CS/ABC/XLVII/6 October 2025 Original: ENGLISH
COMMON MARKET FOR EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
Forty-Seventh Meeting of the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Matters
Hybrid Format 28 - 30 October 2025
DRAFT REPORT OF THE FORTY- SEVENTH MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATIVE AND BUDGETARY MATTERS
THEME: "Leveraging digitalization to deepen Regional Value Chains for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth"
2025(DB-AO-MZM-NR-AM)-djk-em
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PART I: INTRODUCTION
- The Forty-Seventh Meeting of the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Matters (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) was held in hybrid format from 28 to 30 October 2025 in Lusaka Zambia.
PART II: ATTENDANCE, OPENING OF THE MEETING, ELECTION OF THE BUREAU, ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND ORGANISATION OF WORK
Attendance
- The Meeting was attended by the following Member States: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- The following COMESA Organs and Institutions were also in attendance: COMESA Secretariat, COMESA Court of Justice (CCJ), COMESA Competition Commission (CCC), COMESA Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB), Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLPI) and COMESA Regional Investment Agency (RIA). The list of participants is at Annex I.
Opening of the Meeting (Agenda item 1.1)
- The Secretary General, Her Excellency, Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe, in her opening remarks welcomed participants to the 47th Meeting of the Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Matters that was being held in a hybrid format.
- She expressed her appreciation to the participants for their continued dedication, commitment and support to the work of COMESA which is instrumental in advancing the implementation of the COMESA programmes, particularly in areas of Human Resource, Administration, Budgeting, Financial management and managing risks through adequate and effective internal controls.
- The Secretary General informed the delegates that the Meeting was being convened three weeks after the 24th COMESA Summit of Heads of State and Government which was held in Nairobi, Kenya on 9th October 2025 under the theme “Leveraging Digitization to Deepen Regional Value Chains for sustainable and Inclusive Growth”. The theme builds on COMESA’s ongoing efforts to deepen regional value chains in climate resilient agriculture, mining and tourism with the use of technology. Digitalization facilitates seamless flow of goods, services, capital and businesspersons across the region for an increase in intra-COMESA trade, which stands at only 7%. Leveraging on digitalisation will further create jobs, increase income and reduce poverty in the region.