The Sunday Mail
President R G Mugabe
Levi Mukarati and Kuda Bwititi
President Mugabe’s visionary tenure as Sadc Chair has engineered an economic revolution that will benefit the whole of Africa for decades, the regional grouping’s Executive Secretary Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax has told The Sunday Mail. The Zimbabwean leader is seeing out his Sadc Chairmanship (August 2014-August 2015) with a number of milestones aimed at improving the livelihoods of citizens of the region having been achieved.
Chief among these is the Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap, which spells out a framework for value-addition and beneficiation that creates new industries and value chains. The other milestone is adoption of a revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan, whose implementation will lead to new and improved infrastructure.
As these plans unfold in Sadc, other African economic blocs have expressed interest in learning and adopting the envisaged Sadc’s economic order.
Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs Ministry also hailed the Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap, the first by any regional economic community to feed into the African Union’s marquee Agenda 2063.
Responding to inquiries by The Sunday Mail, the ministry said, “Zimbabwe started by hosting the Victoria Falls Sadc Summit last year. The feeling was that we had been talking of trade in the region, but what was there to trade when we do not have industries?
“Therefore, the Trade Protocol was seen to be incomplete without the inclusion of industrialisation. We had to prepare for an Extraordinary Summit in April 2015; it was historic in that Sadc adopted the Industrialisation Strategy. The good thing is this strategy dovetails into Africa’s vision through to 2063.
“So, we worked on this agenda with the AU in mind. It is something that will be with Sadc for a long time, until 2063, and people will live to say it was adopted under President Mugabe’s tenure.”
The ministry said President Mugabe’s leadership hosted several meetings to solve targeted issues, and helped political processes in Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Lesotho and South Africa.
“These elections were successful and emphasised democratic elections in the region. The political situation in Lesotho had become a challenge, but Sadc countries managed to beef up security in that country. We are happy the situation is now back to normal.
“Sadc is keeping the situation under observation now and again. In addition, we also have a Sadc Brigade comprising countries such as Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa conducting operations in the DRC.”
And in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Mail last week, Dr Tax said President Mugabe’s remarkable leadership, wisdom and commitment saw Sadc leap towards economic transformation.
She said from the start of his tenure, the President had demonstrated to Sadc’s Secretariat how he was serious about economic issues.
“Obviously, obviously, President Mugabe and his Government need to bask in the glory of these successes. Yes, member states contributed, but a leader is a leader. If you are not committed, you can agree, but if a leader is not committed and does not lead his people, you won’t be able to succeed.
“As the Sadc region, we are very proud of the Industrialisation Strategy because it is a strategy of its own kind, not only in this region, but even on the continent as a whole. It is historic because it is a strategy, which comprises all aspects, which will enable the region to transform economically and technologically.”
She went on: “It also has a long-term perspective. As we speak, all the other regions are now trying to emulate what we have done. We believe we are taking the region in that aspect, in a manner that even the African Union now are trying to understand and learn from.
“The other regions are also trying to learn from our strategy and we will be in a position to inform Agenda 2063. When Zimbabwe took over, we started with the theme ‘Value Addition and Beneficiation’. The decision was taken in August 2014 and we were required to present an Industrialisation Strategy in April 2015. To me, that is really a big achievement during President Mugabe’s tenure. One could tell that it was at the heart of His Excellency himself.”
Dr Tax pointed out that the Tripartite Free Trade Area was launched under President Mugabe’s watch.
The TFTA will boost industry and trade in Sadc, Comesa and the East African Community.
President Mugabe assumed the Sadc Chairmanship on August 17, 2014, pledging to focus on interventions with “greatest impact” on the well-being of Sadc citizens.
Botswana takes over next month.
Heads of State and Government agreed on the Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap at the 34th Sadc Summit in Victoria Falls, themed “Sadc Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region’s Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition”.
The strategy has three periodic phases: 2015-20, 2021-50 and 2051-63.
Phase 1 focuses on consolidating the RISDP, laying a firm foundation for development.
Phase 2 entails moving from a factor-driven approach to an efficiency-driven one, which concentrates on diversification and productivity, both essential components of public/private sector partnerships.
Further transformation is expected in phase 3, with a high level of innovation and business satisfaction.
The Industrialisation Strategy is also aligned to the continental vision, Agenda 2063, a pro-people strategy aimed at optimising Africa’s resources.
Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi told The Sunday Mail that African leaders bestowed the Sadc and AU Chairmanship on President Mugabe out of great respect for him.
Said the minister: “Within Sadc, President Mugabe was able to steer the entire region towards the adoption of an Industrialisation Strategy, which will span for 50 years. That is a legacy which our region will always remember.
“At the African Union, it was through his inspiration that Agenda 2063 – the blueprint of our continental integration programme – was adopted in January 2015 under his Chairmanship. . .Africa and Sadc have finally realised that the resources – the God-given resources on our continent, in our region – are for those who belong to Africa; for those who belong to Sadc.”
