Push to promote SADC industrialisation

The private sector must be consulted in every trade decision member states make

In the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap, member states acknowledge “the central role of the private sector as the driver of industrialisation”, which was reflected in over 200 private sector representatives from across the SADC (South African Development Community) region gathering during the inaugural SADC Industrialisation Week held in Swaziland, for the Second Annual Southern Africa Business Forum (SABF) Conference in August 2016.

The SABF is a co-ordinating platform to encourage public-private development within the SADC region against the backdrop of regional industrialisation. The SABF has since established a secretariat that resides at the Nepad Business Foundation.

The SABF Conference took place on the margins of SADC’s 36th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government, with the aim of relating proposals on trade, investment, industrial development and infrastructure to each other, and identifying catalytic actions that could drive progress across the board.

According to the Esibayeni Declaration of the SABF to the 2016 SADC summit, the forum is aware that the growth paths identified in the SADC industrialisation strategy are impaired by sector-specific challenges. Beginning with the priority industries identified by SADC member states (pharmaceuticals, agro-processing, and mining beneficiation), the SABF has developed proposals to support the development and growth of specific sectors in the region.

SADC has established a regional Pharmaceutical Programme, a Pharmaceutical Business Plan for its implementation, and a Strategy on Regional Production. The plan identifies key strategic policy areas for the 2015-2019 period, prioritising harmonisation of standards and regulaton, and the development of a regional pharmaceutical industry.

The SABF declarations say statutory instruments for regulating pharmaceuticals are not on the same legal level in each SADC state. In addi- tion, the inconsistent nature of some tender and procurement processes leads to delays in access to medicines. Worse, these processes, which often award contracts too short to justify major investments, deter the private sector from investing in local factories or research.

All SADC member states currently intervene in their agricultural sectors, with varying objectives such as increasing food security and helping smallholder farmers grow to become SMMEs (micro, small and mediumsized enterprises). Unfortunately, according to the SABF, more often than not, such interventions create market distortions.

These distortions and disincentives limit investment in agro-processing, and a lack of policy certainty has led to withdrawn investment in some SADC member states.

The SABF also notes that the region now has a comprehensive, evidencebased implementation plan (the Regional Agricultural Investment Plan, or RAIP) for agricultural investment.

The SABF notes that the upstream and downstream minerals industries hold great potential for industrialisation in the SADC region, but are confronted by numerous regulatory challenges. These include a lack of predictability and transparency, especially regarding export and import regimes, regulation on local sourcing and beneficiation, and land and resource ownership and tenure.