SADC is currently battling with issues related to economic transformation and regional integration. Over the past two decades, SADC has systematically failed to effectively translate its approved protocols as a means to propel economic development as a result of low GDP. Whilst there have been several calls for the bloc to maximise benefit from mineral resources to expedite economic development, little progress has been made in that regard. The region is aiming to lift the regional growth rate to a minimum of seven percent annually and quadruple the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the GDP to 40 percent by 2050.
According to Dr. Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary of UNECA, SADC is endowed with an abundance of mineral and natural resources. SADC boasts about 50 percent of the world’s diamond and platinum reserves, 36 percent of the world’s gold reserves and 80 percent of the world’s known cobalt. The region also has vast arable land and has a population of 321 million, which constitutes one third of Africa’s inhabitants.
Lopes said infrastructure indicators in Southern African countries consistently rank above most other regions of the continent. In the years between 1995 and 2005, infrastructure improvement is estimated to have boosted SADC’s growth by 1.2 percent per capita.
“SADC houses an extensive and well developed transportation network, the density of paved roads in the region is 92 percent compared to 30 percent in Ecowas or 59 percent in Eastern Africa,” he said, adding that the region also carries interconnected national railways forming a regional rail network which cuts across the region coming from the DRC to South Africa.
It also has a high quality workforce with a tertiary enrolment of 6.3 percent and an increase of both girls and boys attaining basic education.
Lopes said the implementation of a well-tailored industrial policy was essential in advancing national development efforts in all those cases. He said SADC is still leading the pack when it comes to regional development on the African continent. SADC had an average GDP of 4.68 percent over the last 10 years. This GDP is only marginally lower than the African average of 5 percent.
He further shared that the African Infrastructure Diagnostic Group estimated that an improvement in Southern Africa’s infrastructure can translate into a regional estimated growth of 3 percent per capita. “To seize this opportunity, national, regional and continental policy interventions will play a critical role,” he concluded.
The SADC bloc has been hit by the El Ni├▒o weather phenomenon and an erratic climate, which has affected agricultural production. The region is also battling depressed power generation, decline in commodity prices and the commensurate increases in currency volatility.
“We must not forget that the underlying economic fundamentals of the region remain robust,” said Lopes, before he highlighted how well SADC is doing compared to other regions on the continent.
“I would like to congratulate SADC and the adoption of its bold industrialisation roadmap, which champions economic transformation, competitiveness and regional integration in the 15 member states,” he said, while speaking at the opening of the SADC 36th Summit in Swaziland a few weeks ago.
The region is aiming to lift the regional growth rate to a minimum of seven percent annually and quadruple the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the GDP to 40 percent by 2050. The region also has vast arable land and has a population of 321 million, which constitutes one third of Africa’s inhabitants. It also has a high quality workforce with a tertiary enrolment of 6.3 percent and an increase of both girls and boys attaining basic education.
Lopes said infrastructure indicators in Southern African countries consistently rank above most other regions of the continent. In the years between 1995 and 2005, infrastructure improvement is estimated to have boosted SADC’s growth by 1.2 percent per capita. “SADC houses an extensive and well developed transportation network, the density of paved roads in the region is 92 percent compared to 30 percent in Ecowas or 59 percent in Eastern Africa,” he said, adding that the region also carries interconnected national railways forming a regional rail network which cuts across the region coming from the DRC to South Africa.
In terms of energy, SADC has the highest electricity generation in Africa. His glowing report of the region does not stop there; he adds that in the financial sector, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Africa and ranked as one of the largest in the world by market capitalisation with US$1 trillion.
Lopes’ call for investment in infrastructure comes at a time when the region has decided to invest US$398 billion in infrastructure development as part of its 2015 to 2020 development plan.
The SADC Secretariat has already created a regional infrastructure development master plan, an action plan for its industrialisation strategy and roadmap. The secretariat has also developed an investment plan for the regional agricultural policy.
