New COMESA Chair Ruto Urges Shift from Global Financial Systems to African Institutions

Addis Ababa, October 9, 2025 (ENA) -- President William Ruto of Kenya has urged COMESA member states to invest more in homegrown institutions to finance the continent’s growth.

President Ruto assumed the new chair of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Authority during the 24th Heads of State and Government Summit held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi on Thursday, October 9, 2025.

Ruto succeeded Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye, who had led the 21-member bloc for the past year.

Speaking during the Summit, President Ruto said Africa must move away from dependence on global financial systems that were designed in a bygone era and continue to disadvantage developing nations.

“The global financial system remains trapped in the architecture of a bygone era. Institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, conceived in the aftermath of the Second World War 80 years ago, continue to be dominated by wealthy nations, resulting in persistent inequities and a limited voice for developing countries,” he said.

The head of state urged COMESA nations to strengthen regional financial institutions such as the Trade and Development Bank (TDB), Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), and ZEP-RE, which he described as “embodiments of our collective determination to mobilise African capital for African priorities.”

He noted that the TDB, initially established under the Preferential Trade Area (PTA), has evolved into the financial arm of the common market, driving regional trade, investment, and sustainable development.

“That is why, here in Kenya, we are backing our words with action,” Ruto said.

“Having already committed $50 million as share capital to Afreximbank, we are now making an additional $100 million investment to enhance our shareholding in TDB.”

He added that these African-led banks are offering long-term facilities of up to 25 years at interest rates as low as 2 percent, proof that investing in local institutions delivers sustainable value for member countries.

Ruto, who assumed the chairmanship of COMESA during the summit, said intra-COMESA trade remains low, with Africa contributing only 3 percent to global trade and 14 percent to intra-Africa trade.

Thursday’s summit is a culmination of this year’s COMESA meetings, which kicked off on Monday, bringing together regional heads of state, foreign ministers, business leaders, and development partners to discuss trade, peace, and integration across the 21-member bloc.

The 24^th COMESA Authority  Heads of State and Government Summit is expected to chart a renewed path for deepening regional integration and economic cooperation among COMESA member states, with President Ruto now at the helm for the next year.

COMESA Authority  Heads of State and Government is COMESA’s supreme policy organ and governing body, composed of the heads of state of the 21 member countries. It sets the general policy, direction, and control for COMESA's executive functions and guides the bloc's strategic trajectory and achievement of its aims and objectives, with decisions being made by consensus.

COMESA, established in 1994 and whose member countries have a combined population of more than 640 million people, aims to promote regional trade, sustainable growth, and peace through economic partnerships and shared development goals.