Former Finance Deputy Minister Chileshe Kapwepwe has been appointed Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretary General.

Kapwepwe takes over from long serving Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya who is Zimbabwean.

She becomes the first Zambian and also woman to occupy that position.

Kapwepwe is the current chairperson of the ZRA and who served as IMF Alternate Director in Washington according to Zambia media reports.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a free trade area with nineteen member states stretching from Egypt to Swaziland.

COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981.

President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika is attending the #ComesaSummit2018