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Economic transformation for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa region requires an integrated national and regional governance regime to champion inclusive industrialisation policy, Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said.Mr Ngwenya said this while making a presentation of the report on the status of industrialisation in the region recently.
He said there is need for robust institutional frameworks at national levels for Member States that take into account that industrialisation is
multi-faceted and requires commitment from Government and private sector.
“The economic transformation of the COMESA region requires an integrated national and regional governance regime to champion and support inclusive industrialisation policy.
“At the national level, there is need for robust institutional frameworks that take into account that industrialisation is multi–faceted and requires commitment from government and the private sector,” said Mr Ngwenya.
“Furthermore, policy and institutional integration is paramount and this can be supported by clear processes for integrating environmental, social and economic goals along with national strategies for implementing goals across responsibility areas,” he said.
The report titled “Status of Industrialisation in the COMESA Region: The Road Ahead For Structural Transformation Through Industrialisation” identifies, policy and institutional integration as paramount when supported by clear processes for integrating environmental, social and economic goals along with national strategies for implementing goals across responsibility areas.
“Policy integration should take place both vertically between different tiers of Government and horizontally between different sectors of Government,” said Mr Ngwenya.
He said the structural economic transformation of Comesa countries requires the implementation of the Comesa industrial policy whose overall target is firstly to increase the share of industrial value added in the GDP to 26 percent by 2020 from 24 percent.
Secondly the policy calls for transformation of agriculture from subsistence agriculture to commercial agriculture with a focus on increased agricultural productivity and value addition of agricultural products.
Mr Ngwenya said in absolute terms, agricultural output will increase whilst the share of agriculture as a percentage of the GDP will decrease from an average of 27 percent in 2015 to 26 percent by 2020.
“Successful structural economic transformation as evidenced by the ASEAN countries and other developed countries reveals that there will be a secular decline in the share of agriculture value added as a percentage of the GDP,” he said.
“Although there has been a decrease in the share of agricultural value added as a percentage of GDP, there has been an exponential increase in the total GDP of the countries,” said Mr Ngwenya.
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