Dubai: Dubai will soon open the Regional Investment Agency (RIA), a Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) representative office, at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry headquarters to ensure continuity of links between Comesa and the business communities of the UAE and GCC.
The agreement to open the office was announced on the final day of the fourth Comesa Investment Forum here.
"We are extremely delighted with the outcome of the forum as it more than met all our objectives and exceeded expectations," Hamad Bu Amim, Director-General of the Dubai Chamber, said.
"With Comesa in particular and Africa in general considered the last frontier for development in the world, we are very pleased to be Comesa's gateway for further economic partnerships within the region and beyond.
"The agreement to establish a Comesa RIA office at the Dubai Chamber headquarters, which will be inaugurated soon, is a step in the right direction towards enhancing trade links and reinforcing Dubai's status as the gateway for trade and investment into Comesa," he said.
Regarding UAE investments with Comesa, Eunice Kazembe, Vice Chairperson of the Comesa Council, said: "For 2010, 16 projects have been recorded, real estate being the leading sector with three projects, followed by the financial sector (two projects), food and tobacco (two projects) and oil and gas (two projects)."
"The top three destinations are Egypt (57 per cent), Sudan (9 per cent) and Libya (8 per cent)," she added.
Opportunities
During the two-day forum, delegates expressed keen interest in potentially beneficial economic partnerships following discussions on a wide range of trade and investment opportunities in eastern and southern Africa. Issues relating to trade, finance, infrastructure, agriculture and logistics were discussed by speakers including ministers, policymakers and top business leaders.
Hisham Al Shirawi, second vice chairman of the Dubai Chamber, explained the significance of Dubai's trading heritage with its strong links with Comesa.
"Oil did not create Dubai, it was trade," Al Shirawi said. "Trading has and will continue to be the core of Dubai's economic activity."
He said with Comesa's total land mass covering 11 million square km, a 29th world ranking in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) and 32nd ranking in terms of total trade, such business opportunities simply could not be ignored.
"Being Dubai, we couldn't just stand by and watch that. We have to be part of it," Al Shirawi added.
During the session on agriculture, speakers highlighted issues regarding lack of storage and agro-processing facilities in Comesa hindering production.
Wanjohi Ndagu, Partner, Pearl Capital Partners, said that Comesa's grain sector loses 30 per cent of total output due to poor storage conditions. He stressed that improvements in logistics and storage would increase output by reducing losses.
Meanwhile, on the issue of infrastructure, Marco Coutinho, Energy Coordinator for Vale, revealed that due to a lack of good infrastructure, specifically in transport and energy, the capacity of mining projects had to be scaled down.
