ZCGS is excited at the Republican President Hakainde Hichilema’s taking of the chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) at the 16th COMESA summit being held in Lusaka, Zambia.
Mr. Hichilema takes the mantle from his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah El Sisi and will be deputized by Burundian President, Evariste Ndayishimye.
ZCGS Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Mary Mumba congratulated the head of state on this achievement and revealed that the development presented Zambian businesses especially MSMEs an important opportunity to boost regional trade.
Ms. Mumba pointed out that Mr. Hichilema’s vision was to create a borderless continent so as to ease trade. She added that this vision was key for Zambian MSMEs to easily access markets within the neighboring countries.
She also expressed optimism that increased trade within the region would increase the need for MSMEs to obtain guaranteed credit facilities from different financial institutions that have partnered with ZCGS.
She also revealed that ZCGS was happy to guarantee businesses that were into value addition and contributing to foreign exchange earnings through exports. She added that with a population of 600 people and a combined Gross Domestic Product of US$768 billion, COMESA provided a perfect market for businesses that had market access as a major constraint to success.
ZCGS is a government owned company that provides credit guarantees to MSMEs and is currently partnering with a host of Financial Institutions in Zambia.