Zambia ponders over choice between SADC, COMESA
The Zambian government said in Lusaka on Wednesday that it was still consulting with stakeholders on which regional grouping - SADC or COMESA — to retain membership in, APA learns here.
The country belongs to both the 20-member states body of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern Africa Development Committee (SADC), which has 14 member states.
However, with plans for a single currency and integrated customs union, countries that belong to both blocs have been under pressure to retain membership in one at the expense of the other.
Countries such as South Africa who belong to SADC and not COMESA have been calling on other countries in southern Africa to make a firm commitment to SADC so that outstanding trade agreements can be finalised.
However, the decision has been a difficult one for Zambia because the country currently hosts the COMESA secretariat in Lusaka and is a founder member of SADC in 1980.COMESA Trade and Investment Director Chungu Mwila, however, said in Lusaka on Wednesday that Zambia could still retain membership in both groupings.
Mwila noted that Zambia did not need to make a choice of one over the other because both groupings had played a significant role in the country’s regional trade.Calls have been growing for Zambia to opt out of COMESA for SADC but the government now says it will consult widely before coming up with a final decision on the matter.
