SAIIA-KAS MIGRATION CONFERENCE: MAPPING MIGRATION IN COMESA PRESENTED BY FUDZAI PAMACHECHE TRIPARTITE FTA COORDINATOR
Introduction COMESA is an intergovernmental organization of 19 Member States that came together to promote regional integration through trade and the development of natural and human resources for the mutual benefit of all its people in the region. COMESA was established as the Preferential Free Trade Area of Eastern an Southern Africa in 1980 and transformed into COMESA in 1994. Its vision is to be a fully integrated, economic community that is prosperous, internationally competitive, with high standards of living for all its people, and ready to be part of the African Economic Community. COMESA has a population of 482 million people, landmass of 11.6 million square kilometers and its gross domestic product is about US$667 billion.
COMESA MEMBER STATES
COMESA Integration Approach COMESA adopted a developmental integration approach anchored on: Internal Market Integration which covers trade liberalization, trade facilitation, liberalization of financial and monetary systems, investment promotion and private sector support; Industrialisation for products and transformation of productive capacities through value chains across all productive sectors to take advantage of local natural resources; Infrastructure development as the nuts and bolts knitting together a regional market, building competitiveness (transport, energy and ICT; and sectoral infrastructure eg agriculture to support food security and sustainable development) It is important to note that all these activities only take effect with the intervention of the human mind and labour and with it come the issue of migration
COMESA Instruments on Movement of People The Heads of State and Government of COMESA recognized in 1984 that their regional integration agenda needed to be supported by free movement of people in the region. In this regard they signed the Protocol Relating to the Gradual Relaxation and Eventual Elimination of Visa Requirements within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. The Protocol provides that as a first step towards the gradual relaxation and eventual elimination of visa requirements within COMESA, nationals of a Member State holding travel documents shall not be required to obtain visas before traveling to the territory of another Member State and may be granted visas to enter such territory upon the presentation od such travel documents at an official entry point of that Member State. The Protocol provided for a 90 day visa to be issued at the point of entry and that extensions could be sought as necessary. The COMESA Treaty provides that this 1984 Protocol shall remain in force until the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Labour, Services, Right of Establishment and Residence enters into force.
COMESA Instruments on Movement of People COMESA continues to pursue the vision of free cross-border movement within the 19- Member States through relaxation and elimination of visa requirement for travellers. Accordingly, in the COMESA Treaty, Chapter 28, Article 164, Member States agreed to conclude the COMESA Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Labour, Services, the Right of Establishment and Residence. The objective of the Protocol is to ensure that Member States adopt measures that shall gradually and on a step by step basis remove restrictions to free movement of persons, labour, services, right of establishment and residence. Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Labour, Services, the Right of Establishment and Residence was adopted in Kinshasa, DR Congo in 1998. This Protocol has to date been signed by four Member States, namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Zimbabwe and only one ratification has been deposited by Burundi, meaning that the protocol has effectively not become actionable.
Implementation of Migration Instruments The provisions of the protocol went beyond the relaxation of visas to the removal of all forms of restriction on the movement of persons and the right of establishment and residence. It also reinforced the fact that a genuine common market can only be reality when citizens of the region including companies and firms: can move freely within the region; Are free to take up offers of employment in any Member State; Are free to pursue activities of self-employment; Set up and manage undertakings in any Member state under conditions similar to those applicable to citizens and companies of the host country. Kenya and Rwanda are, unilaterally, already fully complying with most of the provisions of the Protocol despite it being not in force. They do see the benefits of doing so.
Implementation of Migration Instruments Mauritius and Seychelles have scrapped visas on nationals of COMESA Member States while Zambia has issued a circular waiving visas for the region s citizens who travel for official business only. Zambia and Zimbabwe have set up National Monitoring Committees (NMC) to monitor the implementation of the COMESA Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Services, Labour and the Right of Establishment and Residence. the establishment of the committee follows a decision made by the COMESA Council of Ministers aimed at expediting the implementation of the COMESA Free Movement and Visa Protocols. The benefits of free movement include skills sharing, contribution to economy by migrants- taxes and technology transfer, business development, access to skills that have been trained elsewhere, etc
Implementation of Migration Instruments Zimbabwe was the first to set up and launch the committee on 22 July 2016 in Harare while Zambia followed suit on 28 July 2016 in Lusaka. The committees will oversee progress, identify challenges, and provide support for the improved implementation of all COMESA free-movement of persons related programmes, directives and policies at national level. Although the Zambia and Zimbabwe have not yet ratified the Protocol, they are the first to inaugurate the NMCs thus demonstrating their commitment to move the COMESA free movement agenda forward. This is seen in cross border trade increases. Challenges include security, social tensions, delay in concluding mutual recognition agreements on qualifications etc
Other Migration Initiatives There are other migration initiatives being undertaken in the region such the Intra-Africa Talent Mobility Partnership (TMP) Programme funded by the World Bank through the Regional Multidisciplinary Center of Excellence (RMCE). The goal of the TMP is enhancing access of firms to the right quality of professionals at the right time and right place. Such mobility of talent within Africa, in the context of accelerated economic integration, is to help elevate firm level productivity and thereby increase competitiveness of enterprises, which in turn can boost economic growth and create jobs for inclusive development. The TMP program is helping countries implement schengen type mechanisms and common policies on mobility of professionals, businesspersons and investors, consistent with and grounded in already agreed common market frameworks of the respective regional economic communities. In COMESA this programme is being implemented in Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius Mozambique, Rwanda Rwanda, Seychelles, Uganda and Zambia.
Tripartite Initiative The desire to promote free movement of people as economies integrate was also echoed and is part of the Tripartite integration agenda. The Summit of the COMESA- EAC-SADC Tripartite Heads of State and Government from its first meeting emphasized the need to have free movement of business persons. In this regard there have been negotiations on an agreement to facilitate free movement of business persons in the Tripartite Region. There is a draft Agreement which unfortunately does not meet the level of liberalization obtaining in the REC protocols. It is envisaged that the draft Agreement will be sent back for further negotiations, since it appears to be a drawback on what many countries in the Tripartite region have achieved unilaterally or in line with REC instruments.
CONCLUSION Reading the statements by Heads of State and Government, it COMESA and indeed Tripartite level even at the continental level, the need for implementing the free movement of people protocols shows some political will. We need to ask where is the problem? Is it the technocrats intransigence or inability to recognise the tremendous benefits that accrue to all? Is security given the major weight to the extend of hindering free movement? In my humble view, in not taking the right action to allow free movement or migration for that matter tends to ignore the considerable potential for socio-economic growth and development that countries of origin and of destination could derive and also the gains that the individual migrants and their families would achieve if only they could freely move across borders and offer their services.