Kenya's President William Ruto has handed the chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa at the bloc's 25th summit in Harare, AllAfrica reports. Ruto used the meeting to urge African governments to rely more on the continent's own financial institutions.
He said Africa holds more than $4 trillion in domestic financial assets, much of it in foreign accounts, and called on states to place more reserves with African lenders, route projects through them and back their bonds. He said a planned $16bn East Africa refinery in Kenya would be funded almost entirely by African institutions.
Ruto said Kenya's term had brought stronger growth, more trade within the region and deeper digital integration, and launched COMESA's 2026-2030 medium-term strategy.
Source: AllAfrica