SADC SUMMIT TO FOCUS ON INDUSTRIALISATION

MBABANE - The 43rd SADC Heads of States and Governments Summit in Angola will be focusing on human and financial capital as key drivers for sustainable industrialisation in the region.

The summit is scheduled to take place on Thursday in Luanda, Republic of Angola. The 43rd Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit will be held under the theme ‘Human and Financial Capital: The Key Drivers for Sustainable Industrialisation in the SADC Region’. The theme seeks to address two of the most critical enablers in supporting regional industrialisation, namely adequate human resources in terms of numbers and technical capacity within the context of climate change and 4th Industrial Revolution, and adequate financial resources to ensure more sustainable funding mechanisms. During the 43rd SADC Summit, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola will take over the chairpersonship of SADC from His Excellency Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Progress

Among some of the key issues, the 43rd SADC Summit will receive the report of the chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Co-operation; review  progress on implementation of the priorities of the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020-2030, implementation of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Road Map 2015-2063, and progress on the implementation of the 42nd SADC Summit theme, which is ‘Promoting industrialisation through, agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, and regional value chains for inclusive and resilient economic growth’. The SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063 is a long term perspective, aligned to national, regional, continental and international dimensions.

The strategy recognises that for trade liberalisation to contribute to sustainable and equitable development, and thus to poverty reduction, it must be complimented by the requisite capacities to produce, and to trade effectively and efficiently. The strategy is anchored on three pillars namely; industrialisation as champion of economic and technological transformation; competitiveness as an active process to move from comparative advantage to competitive advantage; and regional integration and geography as the context for industrial development and economic prosperity.

Summit

Meanwhile, the SADC Summit is responsible for the overall policy direction and control of functions of the community, ultimately making it the policy-making institution of SADC.
The Ordinary SADC Summit is held every year and is attended by heads of State and Government from the 16 SADC Member States namely, Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The 43rd SADC Summit will be preceded by the SADC Organ Troika Summit on Wednesday. On Saturday there was a SADC Public Lecture at Venancio de Moura Academy of Diplomacy, Kilamba – Luanda, followed by the meeting of SADC Council of Ministers, which began on Sunday and ended yesterday.

The SADC Council meeting of Ministers was attended by the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo. During this meeting, Téte António, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Angola, who took over chair of SADC Council of Ministers, pledged to take forward the Industrialisation Agenda within a context of peace and security, which were indispensable prerequisites for economic development. Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Thuli Dladla confirmed that His Majesty King Mswati III will be attending the summit.  Eswatini will attend this summit with pride after being ranked number six in the African Industrialisation Index (AII) 2022. The AII, is a flagship initiative by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to strengthen knowledge around drivers of industrial development. It aims at providing the first-ever comprehensive picture of the progress being made on industrial development across the continent, covering 52 of 54 African countries for the period 2010 to 2019.

Exports

The Index notes that Eswatini is second when it comes to manufacturing value added per capita and that manufacturing exports continue to perform well, accounting for 65 per cent of total exports by value. Between 2010 and 2021, the country achieved a steady one per cent annual growth rate in exports, led by intermediate food products and processed sugar. Neigbhouring South Africa (SA), which is Eswatini’s biggest trade partner is the top-ranked country on the Index. SA is the closest economy to the frontier with an industrial development score of 0.8404 in 2021. The country’s performance has however, been shrinking in the last decade, from 2010, its highest score in the 2010-2021 period.

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