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Business Reporter
Former Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president, Sifelani Jabangwe, says the upcoming SADC Industrialisation Week (SIW) presents an excellent opportunity and platform for local companies to create avenues for growth and expansion into the region.
This comes as African countries, in January 2021, operationalised the African Continental Free Trade Area, a 55-national trade bloc with about 1,3 billion consumers and a gross domestic product of US$3,3 trillion. The world’s biggest single market is expected to incrementally collapse all barriers to trade on the African continent.
Scheduled to run from July 28 to August 2, 2024, under the theme “Promoting Innovation to Unlock Opportunities for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development Towards an Industrialised SADC”, the SIW programme will include conferencing and exhibitions.
Several private sector players are expected to be part of the programme with approximately 90 exhibitors already registered as of July 10 2024.
SIW is an annual public-private engagement platform designed to foster new opportunities for intra-African trade, develop cross-border value chains, and identify investment opportunities in the SADC region.
A key objective of the SIW is to promote the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2025-2063) (SISR) to ensure wider understanding and acceptability among the SADC community members, including Governments, members of the public, private sector, academia, research institutions and think tanks.
It also aims to identify industrialisation projects that can be jointly implemented by citizens and private sectors of SADC member states.
Mr Jabangwe said the SIW aligns with the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2025-2063) which is meant to address several specific issues, including those related to value creation, and financing mechanisms.
“There are also specific value chains that are promoted or identified for countries like Zimbabwe and then some have been promoted for different other countries.
“So, what is important is that we get acquainted with the programme of events so you can have information and resources that will catapult your business to the next level,” said Mr Jabangwe.
He said the coming on board of investment promotion agencies such as the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA), presented a chance for industry players to showcase investment opportunities in the region.
This could involve companies seeking joint venture partners. It could also be a chance for individuals with investment opportunities to find financial or technical partners.
“This presents an opportunity where everyone comes together and you are able to perhaps meet, engage and create new relationships that can improve the status of the country and the economy,” added Mr Jabangwe.
Meanwhile, CZI chief executive officer Ms Sekai Kuvarika said it was critically important that the private sector assumed a central role in making the goal of economic integration and industrialisation a concrete reality.
She said that the regional value chains that are being developed included sectors such as leather, cotton, pharmaceuticals and agro-processing.
The expansion of manufacturing, driven by the growth of mining and agricultural sectors in the region will be crucial factors in driving industrialisation. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), as well as entrepreneurship, are currently in the spotlight globally.
Given the entrepreneurial nature of the economies, the potential to expand the internationalisation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will be a key topic of discussion.
“We have the representative of the German Association of SMEs coming to share the German experience in building SMEs that can go global as we aim for the first step of making our SMEs go regional,” said Ms Kuvarika.
She revealed that there would be a special occasion for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“Mauritius has already confirmed they will have a business delegation heading to Zimbabwe for the (SIW),” according to Ms Kuvarika.
The Investment Promotion agencies from the region will also be there to highlight manufacturing investment opportunities and incentives available in their respective countries to business delegates attending the SIW.
Online Reporter