Zimbabwean Firms Court Regional Deals at Nairobi’s 18th COMESA Business Forum
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Zimbabwe’s trade promotion agency, ZimTrade, is leading a delegation of more than 20 companies to the 18th COMESA Business Forum and Exhibition in Nairobi, Kenya, from October 6–9, 2025. The gathering, staged ahead of the 24th COMESA Heads of State and Government Summit, is themed “Leveraging Digitalisation to Deepen Regional Value Chains for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth,” and convenes policymakers, investors, innovators, and business leaders from across Africa and beyond to accelerate trade and investment across the bloc.
Seven Zimbabwean firms will exhibit on-site, with additional participants showcased through the ZimTrade pavilion.
Zimbabwe’s presence aligns with the country’s economic diplomacy agenda to strengthen regional ties and harness both COMESA and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
COMESA’s 21 member states represent a market of more than US$768 billion in GDP and over 560 million people.
The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority will market the country’s safaris, cultural heritage, and adventure offerings to reinforce tourism linkages.
.Programme highlights include the EU–Horticulture Connect Seminar on October 6, the COMESA Business Forum on October 7, and multi-sector exhibitions from October 7–9, with a focus on SMEs and women-led enterprises.
ZimTrade chief executive Allan Majuru said the Nairobi forum is a strategic platform to position Zimbabwe as an active participant in Africa’s evolving trade landscape.
He noted that the event enables local companies to demonstrate capability, forge commercial partnerships, and expand export pipelines.
According to Majuru, engagement through COMESA helps firms scale production, adopt digital trade tools, and respond to growing continental demand under the AfCFTA , He added that Zimbabwe’s diversified product slate underscores its readiness to compete regionally and globally while the forum can connect businesses to new distributors, buyers, and investors and strengthen the Zimbabwe brand across Africa.
Majuru also pointed to COMESA’s established trade rules and harmonised facilitation policies as an effective springboard for Zimbabwean products to reach wider African markets through preferential access and integrated value chains.
By pairing in-person showcasing with a broader pavilion presence, Zimbabwe aims to build momentum behind export diversification and deeper participation in regional value chains. The Nairobi platform is expected to stimulate public–private dialogue, catalyse cross-border investment, and support SME growth—particularly among women-led businesses—while positioning Zimbabwean firms to leverage AfCFTA’s single continental market.
Opportunities include digitisation of trade processes, regional logistics and distribution partnerships, agro-processing and packaging upgrades, and fintech solutions for cross-border payments. Firms ready to meet rules-of-origin, quality, and phytosanitary standards could scale faster through COMESA’s preferential access. Key challenges remain non-tariff barriers, working-capital constraints for SMEs, and uneven e-commerce readiness. A visible trend is the regionalisation of value chains—reinforced by the EU–horticulture dialogue alongside tighter linkages between tourism promotion and consumer goods branding.
