The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region needs to enhance foreign investments and improve the value addition of its mineral resources to accelerate industrialisation, according to Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube. His remarks were delivered on Monday at the seventh edition of the SADC Industrialisation Week, held in Harare.
Minister Ncube highlighted the region’s ongoing dependence on primary industries and its heavy reliance on South Africa as a major trading partner. “The majority of SADC countries are still dependent on primary industries and rely heavily on South Africa as the major trading partner,” Ncube stated. “Excluding South Africa, the majority of SADC countries are yet to be significantly industrialised.”
Challenges impeding the SADC region’s industrialisation efforts include a lack of affordable long-term financing, macroeconomic imbalances, and limited fiscal space for economic development. Additionally, the region faces a decline in official development assistance, mounting public debt, and adverse effects from geopolitical tensions and climate change, which have led to reduced productivity, high unemployment, and elevated poverty levels.
In response, Ncube emphasised that member states are working to create a more favourable investment climate. He stressed that attracting foreign direct investment and increasing intra-SADC investments are crucial for enhancing the region’s productive capacities, promoting macroeconomic convergence, and integrating financial markets. Such measures are expected to support the transition from exporting unprocessed natural resources to producing processed high-value goods and services.
The SADC Industrialisation Week is the largest public-private engagement platform focused on industrialisation and intra-African trade and investment. The event is hosted by the SADC Secretariat in collaboration with the Zimbabwean government, the SADC Business Council, and the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries. It precedes the 44th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, scheduled for 17 August in Zimbabwe.
