Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe opened a major African economic summit on Sunday by appealing for greater self-reliance to boost development on the world's poorest continent. Mugabe , who takes over the leadership of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) at the summit , said member states must put money into the group's COMESA Fund to help cut dependence on foreign assistance. “Let us contribute our own resources to the fund which can enable us to finance infrastructural development without any strings attached,” he said. Mugabe urged business leaders to explore investment opportunities in the region. “There is need for our organization to work to speed up the implementation of our programme towards greater development and integration,” he said. COMESA is the largest trading block on the continent. Under the free customs union deal, the 19 member countries will impose the same tariffs on goods from outside the region. The summit aims at launching a customs union that will stretch across the continent in a bid to boost regional trade. Under the deal, the 19 countries in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) will impose the same tariffs on goods from outside the region. Raw materials and capital goods will travel across borders without tariffs, while intermediate products will be taxed at 10 percent and finished goods at 25 percent. Most countries have also lifted visa restrictions on travel within the bloc, with members ranging from tourist hotspot Egypt to some of the world's poorest and most conflict-torn nations, like the Democratic Republic of Congo. The COMESA region is home to 400 million people, with a combined gross domestic product of 360 billion dollars. Leaders hope the union will simplify trade across the region and provide the basis for strengthening integration in the future, eventually leading to a single currency. But some economists doubt that the customs will change Africa's traditional trade patterns. COMESA comprises Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
