Southern African Development Community (SADC) Executive Secretary Elias Magosi has called on the regional bloc’s leadership to remain resolute on the path to advancing regional integration.
Magosi made these remarks during the opening session of the 46th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the SADC, currently underway in Durban.
The region is home to more than 382 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product exceeding US$847 billion, making it ripe for increased shared prosperity.
“As we celebrate SADC Day today, we should remain optimistic and resolute in advancing regional integration. We should continue building a region that is united in purpose, resilient in the face of challenges, and steadfast in advancing the prosperity and dignity of all its people.
“We should build a SADC where peace prevails, economies grow, industries flourish, trade expands, young people thrive, and opportunity reaches every community,” Magosi said on Monday.
He highlighted that the SADC region is not immune to external challenges, with a rapidly changing global environment causing “economic uncertainty, climate-related challenges, technological transformation, and shifting geopolitical realities.”
Magosi emphasised that these challenges require deepening regional integration and enhanced collaboration.
“We now realise that we can no longer depend on others elsewhere but ourselves, that we need each other more and must depend on each other more, and so must we trust each other more. Equally, in an increasingly interconnected world, no country can realise its full potential in isolation.
“Our strength lies in working together, trading together, investing together, and building together. Your Excellencies, I believe that we have a duty to create this reality and future for ourselves,” he said.
With the global march towards clean energy and the region’s vast endowments in the minerals and natural resources needed for clean energy technologies, the SADC region stands at the precipice of prosperity.
“Our ambition must be to move beyond the export of raw materials and position SADC as a globally competitive centre for beneficiation, value addition, manufacturing, innovation, and industrialisation. However, the challenge for us as a region is not a lack of these strategic resources, nor is it that we don’t know their potential to transform our economies and change our fortunes.
“It is not even that we have not talked about them and made commitments to change the trajectory. The challenge is when do we stop exporting them in raw form and start adding value to them and creating sustainable jobs and wealth. Once more, we do not need permission from anyone to start this process. Let us start now,” Magosi urged.
Industrialisation and the SADC
Magosi told the gathering that increased industrialisation is a key factor in the regional bloc’s ambitions to achieve structural transformation, economic diversification, job creation, poverty reduction and improved living standards.
“However, industrialisation cannot succeed without modern and reliable infrastructure. Robust and sustainable energy systems, refreshed and reliable transport networks, ports and logistics platforms, and cost-effective digital connectivity are indispensable enablers of industrialisation and ultimately competitiveness and economic growth.
“Agriculture also remains a cornerstone of many of our economies and a source of livelihood for millions of our citizens. Despite climate-related challenges, Member States continue to invest in irrigation, mechanisation, climate-smart agriculture, improved seed systems, and agro-processing,” he noted.
Powering all these industries will be the youth of the SADC who count for more than half of the region’s population.
“The success of our region will depend largely on its people, particularly our youth. As technological change accelerates and economies become increasingly knowledge-driven, it is imperative that our young people are equipped with the skills, education, and opportunities necessary to thrive.
“Investment in quality education, technical and vocational skills development, digital literacy, innovation, entrepreneurship, science, and technology must therefore remain among our regional priorities.
“We must create an enabling environment that empowers young women and men to participate meaningfully in economic transformation. Supporting youth-led enterprises, expanding access to finance and technology, and creating pathways to decent employment will be critical to our long-term success,” Magosi said. – SAnews.gov.za
