ACTESA | A Specialised Agency of COMESA

On March 1, 2010 ACTESA signed an agreement with COMESA on the implementation of agricultural programmes in the region. The agreement is meant to accelerate the implementation of regional initiatives in agriculture, trade and investment.

COMESA Secretary General, Sindiso Ngwenya, and ACTESA CEO, Cris Muyunda, have made earnest appeals to US investors to invest in Africa. Mr. Ngwenya and Dr. Muyunda were speaking separately in Washington DC and Kansas City in the USA at the ongoing AGOA 2010 Summit.

Mr. Ngwenya said Africa has potential to produce enough food for internal needs and international trade. During a panel presentation entitled, ‘Food Security: opportunities for Africa,’ Mr. Ngwenya said the African market provided a huge opportunity for growth in agricultural development and trade.

“We can produce enough for our needs and for the rest of the world as long as all challenges facing the farmers are dealt with, when farming is considered a business and when farmers get the necessary support from their respective governments and private sector,” he said.

Quoting the Mckinsey and Company 2010 report, “Lions on the move”, Mr. Ngwenya said in 20 years, Africa’s collective GDP would be $2.6 trillion, its consumer spending $1.4 trillion, the number of Africans of working age would be 1.1 billion, and 50% of Africans would be living in cities by 2030, showing the huge potential of the continent.

Cape Town-The Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA) has concluded MOUs with several organizations to increase regional rice output and trade.

Speaking during the 3^rd Africa Rice Outlook conference in Cape Town, South Africa which attracted participation from senior global government officials, traders, processors, exporters and various private sector officials, Dr. Muyunda noted that the MOUs would assist to increase rice production in Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania.

The MOUs have been reached with investment, equipment production, trading and financial institutions.

Among the entities that will work with ACTESA are, Terragold Agri Plc, Phoenix Commodities, Bourse Africa, BUHLER, Eurofins and the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD).

“These partnerships will ensure increased investments in production, processing, trade logistics and mobilization of producers for quality rice output in the region,” Dr. Muyunda said.