By Marianne Nzioki
The COMESA Business Council is convening the COMESA Business Week from 2 to 4 December 2021. The event is in partnership with CBC Private Sector and AfricaNenda. The business council is active in 19 member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The meetings will focus on key events that will raise awareness to industry and private sector development on Digital Financial Inclusion for SMEs. They will engage stakeholders on the value of a Digital Common Payment Policy for SMEs and a Business Model to support the development of a low value/digital retail payments platform that can promote intra-regional trade for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the COMESA Region.
On this occasion the CBC Board and General Assembly are being convened to consider the CBC workplan for 2022. There will also be elections of the Board 2022-2024.
CBC BOARD MEETING & ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Board and the Annual General Meeting are convened in line with the statutory requirements as per the CBC Constitution. These statutory meetings review the performance, governance and institutional development of the COMESA Business Council which subsequently culminates into the ability to effectively support the private sector development goals.
The 2021 17th meeting of the CBC Board of Directors and the 10th Annual General Meeting are being convened during the COMESA Business Week.
The Annual General Meeting will see the election of a new Board of Directors for the period 2022-2024.
During the AGM, CBC will also raise awareness about key private sector agendas including Digital Financial Inclusion for MSMEs and Duty-Free Retail Markets.ackground:
The 1st COMESA Digital Financial Inclusion Public-Private Dialogue was held in Kigali, Rwanda, on 20th January 2021 to agree on the building blocks for a model policy, the COMESA Digital Integrated Common Payment Policy for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
The event brought together over 200 delegates from the nine pilot study countries that participated in the development of the Business Case Report and the drafting of Common Payment Policy guidelines towards a COMESA digital retail payment platform for Micro, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
The 2nd COMESA Digital Financial Inclusion Public-Private Dialogue was held on 27th July 2021 in Lusaka, Zambia, and was attended by over 250 participants to consider and adopt the draft Model Policy for the Regional Digital Payment Platform and Rulebook for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region.
CBC’s Digital Financial Inclusion Plan for SMEs aims to support the design, development and deployment of an integrated digital financial services infrastructure that is low-cost, interoperable, real time and fraud resistant that serves Micro Small and Medium sized Enterprises (MSMEs) and the customers they transact with at the bottom of the financial pyramid. The CBC’s expected outcome under the Digital Financial Inclusion Plan for SMES are:
- COMESA Member States to consider the implementation of a harmonized digital common payment policy framework for MSMEs in COMESA region.
- COMESA Member States to consider a business model for a digital retail payment platform for MSMEs, that goes beyond facilitating affordable, and real time transactions for MSMEs to include strengthening the visibility and promotion of products and services for this market segment within the COMESA region.
CBC engaged a consulting firm to develop the Business Model on the operation of the digital retail payments platform for MSMEs in the COMESA region. The consulting partners were from nine pilot countries in region, with the stakeholder groups comprising Central Banks, commercial banks, Mobile Network Operators, non-bank operators (FinTechs and microfinance institutions), ICT regulators, manufacturers, SME Associations with a keen focus on women-run enterprises and cross-border traders.
The 3rd COMESA Digital Financial Inclusion Public-Private Dialogue will be held under the theme “Towards digital payments platforms for MSMEs in the COMESA region.” The objective of the Dialogue will be to validate the Business Model Report that will inform the design, governance and implementation of the proposed regional digital retail payment platform for MSMEs in the COMESA region.
The key topics of the validation meeting will be:
- Introduction of the digital financial plan for MSMEs and works works done so far.
- Validation of the business model, a DFI payments platform for MSMES.
The Business Model design is guided by the Level One design principles that promote financial inclusion. It will focus on the design of a platform that caters for the needs and consumer requirements of low-income cross border traders, a majority of whom are women and youth, as well as the commercial interests of financial services providers namely, commercial banks, mobile network operators and non-bank operators in the markets.
It is foreseen that the infrastructure (hard and soft) proposed by the business model, will be supported by harmonized regulatory processes under the COMESA model digital common payments policy that will facilitate transparent, affordable and real time transactions for MSMEs. Such a platform will also create innovative solutions that drive e-commerce for this market segment. This will go hand in hand with our development objectives of pursuing inclusion of Small and Medium Enterprises into larger formal markets at a regional and continental level.
This validation meeting will consider the adoption of the governance, institutional arrangements, oversight arrangements of the business model (mechanism to guide operationalization of model).
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ldumqqzIsGNU7NnEY2zUKGgp4IOPFgGzB
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Marionne Nzioki is the Marketing and External Relations at the COMESA Business Council. She is available on +260 211 229725/32 or mnzioki@comesabusinesscouncil.org