This archive report was first published on 21 September 2019.
Published on September 21, 2019, The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has cancelled its annual summit, scheduled to take place in Khartoum, Sudan, later this year.
This is the second time in three years that the annual summit has been cancelled, with the Lusaka-based secretariat confirming that Comesa will hold its next summit in Egypt in the second half of 2020.
The decision to cancel the summit comes after Sudan was stripped of its host status following months of public protests in the capital Khartoum, which led to the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in April.
“Sudan was supposed to host this year’s annual summit but couldn’t for obvious reasons,” Mwangi Gakunga, Comesa’s head of corporate communications, told The EastAfrican.
As a result of Khartoum’s removal as host, the chairperson of Comesa’s Summit, referred to as the Authority, a position held by Madagascar, will remain as is until the next summit is held.
