Tinaye Agere
Tanyaradzwa Rusike
LOCAL companies will be angling for opportunities to venture into the region and also benchmark their products when they interface with stakeholders from regional countries and beyond at the 7th Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Industrialisation Week (SIW), which gets underway in Harare today.
The week-long event, to be officially opened by President Mnangagwa on Wednesday, is the largest public-private platform and consultative body for industrialisation in the region.
It will be held under the theme “Promoting Innovation to Unlock Opportunities for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development Towards an Industrialised SADC”.
SIW is also a precursor to the 44th SADC Heads of State and Government Summit to be held in Harare on August 17, where President Mnangagwa will assume the chairmanship of the regional bloc.
Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu told The Sunday Mail that hosting SIW will provide multiple benefits for local companies.
“You would appreciate that Zimbabwe is a small market. It is important to explore and penetrate the region before we can think of adequately servicing the rest of the continent under the AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area).
“The investment conference is going to be graced by a number of investors and financial institutions, including DFIs (development finance institutions), and this will present an opportunity for member states to pitch their projects before potential funders,” said Minister Ndlovu.
SIW is also expected to enhance regional integration through development of regional value chains, where member states will leverage on their comparative and competitive advantages.
“The event will allow for local products to be showcased to potential markets within the SADC region for increased exports.
“In addition, there will be an investment conference that will be held on the sidelines of the SADC Industrialisation Week, where local players will have an opportunity to forge investment deals with counterparts in the region and beyond.”
The local companies that have been selected to be visited by delegates during the SIW, he added, are also likely to benefit.
“These companies will include Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco), Zimplats, Kefalos, Dairibord, Dendairy, National Foods, Champions Foods, Davipel, Olivine, Seed Co, Irvine’s and Khayah. This provides delegates with a practical appreciation of what we are doing as a country to promote manufacturing,” he said.
The SIW, he also said, provides a valuable opportunity for member states to demonstrate the strides they have made in industrialising their economies.
“It is significant to Zimbabwe as it provides a platform to showcase our progress in terms of our industrialisation drive, and also for us to benchmark against those member states that have advanced more than us,” added Minister Ndlovu.
In a joint statement on Friday, the Government, the SADC Secretariat, the SADC Business Council and the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) said the event will be held at the Harare International Conference Centre.
CZI chief executive officer Ms Sekai Kuvarika said the business community was ready to champion the strategies that will ignite entrepreneurship and attract investment to bring the SADC industrialisation agenda to life.
“We are committed to driving private sector-led industrialisation and transforming the regional economy,” she said.
Senior programme officer for industrialisation and competitiveness at the SADC Secretariat Dr Johansein Rutaihwa said SIW declarations from past events outline a “clear road map for accelerating industrialisation through strategic infrastructure investments, addressing non-tariff barriers, harmonising policies and fostering a business-friendly environment”.
“This year’s event will build on that momentum with substantive dialogue and concrete action plans,” Dr Rutaihwa said.
The executive secretary of the SADC Business Council, Mr Peter Varndell, said: “The 7th SIW presents a crucial opportunity for the public and private sectors to collaborate on policies and strategies that promote innovation-driven industrialisation across SADC. Innovation underpins sustainable economic growth and is vital for unlocking the region’s industrial potential.”
In an interview on Friday, Disco spokesperson Mr Joseph Shoko said the platform allows the company to connect with regional markets.
“SADC comprises 16 countries and out of these, South Africa is the only major steel producer. Other countries in the region are not major steel producers, and that is where we now come in,” he said.
“So, the SIW, therefore, gives us an opportunity to connect with markets from the region and beyond. For us, the SIW has come at the right time because we are marketing our steel, after having started production recently.”
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Mr Christopher Mugaga told The Sunday Mail that the SIW will be a window for the country to tell its story.
“It’s really a huge honour to host this event as a country. Negative stories have been shared out there about Zimbabwe but now having countries from our region will be a platform for us to showcase our success stories on the industrialisation drive,” said Mr Mugaga.
SIW, which aims to structurally transform the SADC region through industrialisation, was conceived at the 2015 SADC summit in Harare.
The event has been held six times, starting with Eswatini in 2016, South Africa (2017), Namibia (2018), Tanzania (2019), Malawi (2021) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (2022).
Zimbabwe has made major preparatory work, particularly on infrastructure development, where the road network has undergone tremendous rehabilitation to facilitate seamless movement of delegates ahead of the main SADC summit in August.
Online Reporter