Ruto heads to Harare for COMESA summit on trade and regional security

Kenya’s president joins heads of state to push African free trade implementation and deepen regional integration

By Lilian Njeri

President William Ruto yesterday arrived in Harare, Zimbabwe, for the 25th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Heads of State and Government Summit, where regional leaders will confront pressing questions about trade integration, peace and security across a bloc of more than 600 million people.

Kenya arrives at the summit as one of the region’s most active proponents of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and Ruto is expected to use the Harare platform to press for faster implementation of the agreement, which promises to reshape intra-African commerce but has moved unevenly across member states since its launch.

The summit convenes against a backdrop of persistent security challenges in parts of eastern and southern Africa, adding urgency to discussions that might otherwise risk becoming exercises in diplomatic formality. COMESA’s trade and investment architecture can only deliver its promise where stability exists to sustain it.

For Kenya, Harare is both an opportunity and an obligation — to lead by example on integration at a moment when the continent’s economic ambitions demand more than rhetoric.

Some of the moments as captured in pictures

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