Categories: Stories

SADC seeks strategy to boost industrialisation

SADC leaders are this week expected to endorse a long-term industrialisation plan that could help Zimbabwe reverse the collapse of its productive sector and plug an influx of cheap imported goods.

Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector is operating at about a third of capacity, according to a recent Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries survey and suffers from working capital constraints, antiquated equipment, high cost of doing business, raw material shortages and power and water shortages while those still producing face competition from cheap imports.

About 40 percent of the imported products are from South Africa while Zambia, once a market for Zimbabwe’s manufactured goods, is also emerging as a competitor for the local industrial sector, the survey found.

SADC Executive Secretary Stergomena Lawrence Tax told delegates attending a regional council of ministers meeting that they will deliberate on a strategy to re-orient regional integration and industrialization.

“The strategy is expected to be a living policy framework that will guide our region, in its quest for  socio-economic transformation through industrialisation, contributing to sustainable development, poverty reduction and thus improved livelihoods,” Law said.

If approved, the industrialisation plan will run from 2015-2020. The strategy, Law said is anchored on three pillars – industrialisation as champion of economic and technological transformation; competiveness as an active process to move from comparative advantage to competitive edges and regional integration.

Officiating at the same meeting, foreign affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said the industrialization policy was expected to reduce trade imbalances in the region.

“Without beneficiation and value addition to our products, trade liberalisation would only serve to perpetuate unsustainable trade imbalances,” he said.- The Source

(199 VIEWS)

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

ZiG loses steam, falls against US dollar for five consecutive days

The Zimbabwe Gold fell against the United States dollar for five consecutive days from Monday…

November 22, 2024

Indian think tank says Starlink is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

An Indian think tank has described Starlink, a satellite internet service provider which recently entered…

November 18, 2024

ZiG firms against US dollar for 10 days running but people still do not have confidence in the currency

Zimbabwe’s new currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), firmed against the United States dollars for 10…

November 16, 2024

Zimbabwe among the top countries with the widest gap between the rich and poor

Zimbabwe is among the top 30 countries in the world with the widest gap between…

November 14, 2024

Can the ZiG sustain its rally against the US dollar?

Zimbabwe’s battered currency, the Zimbabwe Gold, which was under attack until the central bank devalued…

November 10, 2024

Will Mnangagwa go against the trend in the region?

Plans by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front to push President Emmerson Mnangagwa to…

October 22, 2024