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Joseph Madzimure, Zimpapers Political Hub
The Sadc Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap was formulated in the context of existing national and regional policies. It was at the Sadc Heads of State and Government in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe where the “Sadc Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region’s Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition” theme was first enunciated in August 2014.
It was this summit that directed that industrialisation takes centre stage in Sadc’s regional integration agenda. To this end, the summit mandated the Ministerial Task Force on Regional Economic Integration to develop a strategy and roadmap for industrialisation of the region.
During that time, Dr Mike Bimha was Zimbabwe’s Minister of Industry and Commerce.
In order to get a historical perspective of the region’s industrialisation agenda, Zimpapers Politics Hub Writer, Joseph Madzimure (JM) recently had a chat with the former Industry and Commerce Minister, Dr Bimha (MB).
JM: Zimbabwe is hosting the Sadc Industrialisation Week, ahead of the Sadc Summit of Heads of State and Government. Can you give us a brief background on how the issue of industrialisation was officially taken on board by the regional body?
MB: It is very interesting that we are having a Sadc Industrialisation week starting next week, which precede the summit.
Just going back a few years ago, Zimbabwe took the Sadc chairmanship in 2014, in Victoria Falls. Prior to that, there have been a lot of meetings at official level and ministerial level with an effort to try and find a common purpose for Sadc.
Prior to that, there were a number of countries, which were calling upon Sadc countries to open up and remove obstacles on trade, remove tariffs so that these countries could really flood our markets.
JM: How was the idea of opening up boarders to encourage trade received by the participating countries?
MB: A few countries, Zimbabwe included, felt that this was unfair and that if we allow ourselves to be a dumping ground of other countries’ products we won’t develop.
There was this new thinking that we must encourage industrialisation, we must encourage local production of goods, we should encourage the buying of local goods so that our industries can grow, so that we can have a plain field, which is fair.
We had a meeting of officials, which ended in a deadlock, we could not agree on the way forward and this was then referred to our meeting, which was a ministerial meeting.
Unfortunately, we could not get any breakthrough and the matter was then escalated to the Heads of State and Government and that was the meeting held in Victoria Falls when we took over the chairmanship in 2014.
JM: Since the Sadc ministers of industry ended in a deadlock, what was the response of the Heads of State and Government?
MB: After a very lengthy meeting of the Heads of States, it was then decided by all the Heads of State and Government during that time that we should now focus on industrialisation and that industrialisation should now be a permanent item on the agenda of Sadc .
Prior to any summit of Sadc, there must be an industrialisation week and obviously the ministers were then tasked to come out with the Sadc industrialisation framework and strategy.
Most of the meetings were held here in Harare and we also had the opportunity of sharing the ministerial meeting on crafting the industrialisation strategy and framework.
This strategy and framework was a result of work from the Government, the private sector, as well as academia.
At the end, we came with what we know today as a Sadc Industrialisation Strategy and Framework.
After all that has been done, the foundation has been laid, what we need now is the way forward.
JM: In your view, who should be on the forefront in terms of implementation?
MB: In my view and my appeal is that our private sector in Sadc and in Zimbabwe in particular must now run with industrialisation in-terms of implementation. They should run with it with the Government really behind to support them, therefore, when people want to talk about industrialisation, they normally want to think of what Government has to do for us to industrialise.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter