Nairobi to host 24th COMESA Summit as Kenya assumes chairmanship

The 24th COMESA Heads of State Summit—scheduled for 7–9 October 2025 in Nairobi under the theme “Leveraging Digitalization to Deepen Value Chains for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth”—is being viewed by many as a timely platform for charting the route for intra-Africa trade.

Kenya will assume the chairmanship of COMESA during the Summit, and trade authorities see it as a moment to reorient the region’s strategy toward strengthening intra-Africa trade.

*Cabinet Secretary for Trade Lee Kinyanjui* , speaking ahead of the Summit, has emphasized that the timing demands bold action. “With external trade regimes under strain, we must lean more on regional mechanisms and technology to bridge our markets,” he said. “This Summit provides us the space to scale up digital trade tools—electronic certificates of origin, interoperable payments, smart border systems—that can turn fragmented value chains into seamless routes of commerce.”
Recent trade data underscore the need for that shift. According to COMESA estimates, intra-regional trade has grown at an average rate of 7 percent annually since the establishment of its Free Trade Area, as tariff barriers fell and trade rules were simplified.

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Still, intra-COMESA flows remain modest relative to the bloc’s potential. In 2023, only about 9.4 percent of COMESA’s exports were destined for internal markets, with the bulk going outside the region. Meanwhile, whole-of-Africa figures offer a telling contrast: intra-African trade reached approximately USD 192 billion in 2023—about 15 percent of Africa’s total trade, up from 13.6 percent a year earlier.

At the Summit, member states will be expected to adopt practical reforms: a timetable for deployment of electronic Certificates of Origin, frameworks for interoperable payments, and commitments to smart border procedures combining trade facilitation and anti-corruption safeguards. Success in these areas could make intra-COMESA trade faster, cheaper, and more resilient—especially as external trade environments become more volatile.

Hosting the Summit complements Kenya’s broader Vision 2030 goals—industrialization, value addition, job creation and competitiveness. For many African economies, the Nairobi gathering will represent more than symbolic unity: it could help chart a new trade trajectory where intra-African commerce and digital integration provide ballast in a shifting global order.