CLOSURE OF THE 23rd COMESA SUMMIT IN BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI: REACTION FROM THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN TRADE, JULIEN PALUKU KAHONGYA WHO ADVOCATES FOR THE TROPICALIZATION OF AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT APPROACH.
At the closing of the 23rd summit of Heads of State and Government of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa-COMESA this Thursday in Bujumbura, Burundi, being part of the members of the Government who accompanied President Félix Tshisekedi who focused his speech on the promotion of peace in the COMESA region and the increase in trade between member countries but also development; the Minister of Foreign Trade declared to the press that Africa is mobilizing to create its own value chains which augurs change in its economy.
For Julien Paluku Kahongya, this approach must involve the creation of investment banks to finance key sectors including infrastructure, energy and agriculture; hence it is necessary to tropicalize the latter, because copy and paste in terms of development has shown its limits in the African continent, he added.
Note that during this summit, the Burundian President, Evariste Ndayishimiye condemned in the strongest terms the aggression of the DRC with the systematic plunder of its natural resources, which negatively impacts the regional integration advocated by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa-COMESA, he concluded.
