President William Ruto has called on African countries to reduce their dependence on foreign financing and mobilise domestic resources to fund the continent’s development.
Speaking at the 25th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Summit in Harare, Zimbabwe, Ruto said Africa has vast financial resources but still relies heavily on external funding, while many development projects remain underfunded.
The President noted that Africa holds more than $4 trillion in domestic financial assets and challenged member states to place greater trust in African financial institutions and investment vehicles.
Below is the full speech by President William Ruto as delivered at the COMESA Summit in Zimbabwe
FULL SPEECH
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. WILLIAM SAMOEI RUTO, PhD, C.G.H., PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA AND OUTGOING CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMESA AUTHORITY, DURING THE 25TH COMESA SUMMIT OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT
His Excellency Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, our gracious host, and incoming Chairperson of the COMESA Authority,
Excellencies, fellow Heads of State and Government,
His Excellency Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My dear brother, President Mnangagwa, thank you for welcoming us to Harare, the Sunshine City, and to this New Parliament Building, a landmark of unity, progress, and pride for every Zimbabwean.
To you, your Government, and the people of Zimbabwe: Thank you for your warmth, hospitality, and friendship.
On behalf of the Republic of Kenya, and as outgoing Chairperson of the COMESA Authority, I thank fellow Heads of State and Government. You gave me your support. You gave me your cooperation. And you gave me the privilege of serving our region. I do not take that privilege lightly.
I pay special tribute to the Bureau: Zimbabwe as Vice-Chairperson and Burundi as Rapporteur. You made the work of the Chair lighter and its results stronger.
I also thank Her Excellency Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe, the Secretary-General of our organisation, and the entire Secretariat. You turned our collective vision into programmes, our programmes into progress, and our progress into results.
Ruto Outlines His Vision for a Unified COMESA
Excellencies,
One market. One future. Those four words carry the theme of this summit. They also carry the promise we made to nearly 700 million people across our region.
The past year tested us. The global economy was uncertain. Trade was disrupted. Supply lines were broken. Yet COMESA did not retreat. We held steady, we stayed together, and we moved forward.
The numbers tell the story. Regional growth rose from 5.6% in 2024 to 6.4% in 2025. Inflation fell from 31% to 13.2%.
Our trade is growing. Total exports to the world rose 6% to $212 billion. Exports among ourselves grew faster, rising 10.5% to $14.7 billion, our highest level between 2020 and 2025.
These numbers carry a clear lesson. When we trade with one another, we grow together. The greatest market for Africa’s goods is Africa.
During our chairmanship, we stayed true to the integration agenda. We kept our priorities clear, stayed focused on our programmes, and delivered consistently.
We deepened the COMESA Free Trade Area and adopted the revised COMESA Rules of Origin. We made digitalisation an engine of integration and worked to connect certification systems across COMESA, SADC and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
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At the continental level, COMESA finalised its AfCFTA Implementation Strategy. We are not standing apart from Africa’s single market. We are building it.
Turning Digitalisation Into Results
Ladies and Gentlemen,
When we assumed the Chair, we set one priority: Leveraging digitalisation to deepen regional value chains for sustainable and inclusive growth. Today, that priority is a programme, not a slogan.
We launched major programmes to make our region more competitive, support small businesses, promote greener trade and accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
We should measure integration not only by trade volumes or institutional strength, but by the opportunities we create for our people.
Excellencies,
We have much to celebrate. But one challenge now demands our collective attention: sustainable and predictable financing for our programmes and institutions.
We cannot be ambitious in our plans and timid in our financing. Every programme we agree upon must be matched by the resources to deliver it.
We must think more boldly about financing our own priorities.
We already hold considerable financial strength in our region. The task before us is to harness that strength deliberately through mechanisms that draw both public and private capital to our shared priorities.
As COMESA enters its next phase, financing must sit at the heart of our deliberations.
We cannot ask the world to trust African institutions if we do not trust them ourselves.
Africa holds more than four trillion dollars in domestic financial assets. Yet too much of it sits in foreign accounts earning little, while our own projects wait for capital.
Our institutions have earned our confidence. The African Development Bank, Afreximbank, the Africa Finance Corporation, the Trade and Development Bank, ATIDI, ZEP-RE and Africa Re have financed our trade, insured our risks, and stood with us when others stepped back.
So let us capitalise on them, use them and stand behind them.
Let us place more of our reserves with them, route more of our projects through them, and back their bonds and guarantees.
When we invest in our own institutions, we do more than finance our development. We take ownership of it.
Ruto’s Blueprint for Growth and Competitiveness
Ladies and Gentlemen,
That is why our 2026 theme matters so much: One Market, One Future: Advancing Inclusive Industrialisation, Investment and Regional Integration in COMESA.
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The world is fragmenting. Our answer must be integration, not fragmentation; cooperation, not isolation.
The global order is shifting. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Protectionism is returning. Supply chains are breaking.
Regional integration is no longer a dream we discuss. It is an economic and strategic necessity.
We must trade more among ourselves, build resilient regional value chains, and deepen our productive capacity so that we can withstand the next shock and seize the next opportunity.
For too long, our engagement with the world has followed one script: we export raw materials, we import finished goods, and we borrow at a premium to pay the difference.
That script has run its course.
COMESA offers the world a different conversation: one market speaking with one voice, rather than 21 markets negotiating alone.
To every partner who seeks our minerals, our markets and our young workforce, our offer is clear: invest with us, process with us, build with us.
We will be fair in our partnerships, firm in our interests, open in our markets, and reliable in our word.
Africa does not come asking for a seat at the edge of the table. We come to help set it.
As I hand over the Chair, I do so with full confidence in my dear brother, President Mnangagwa.
We will do it by producing more, trading more, and investing more within our region, and by engaging the world with a stronger, more coherent voice.
The future of our region will be shaped by what we choose to build together.
One market. One future.
Let us build it with renewed determination, and let us deliver it to every one of our people.
I thank you.
Long live COMESA!
Long live Africa!
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