Increasing our economic co-operation efforts
WHEN the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF), held in Durban, was concluded recently, there was unanimity among delegates across the spectrum that this was a resounding success both because of the quality of the more than 1100 delegates as well as the content of the deliberations.
The Durban meeting imbued delegates and the general public with renewed vigour and belief, particularly among Africans, that Africa’s future is up to Africans.
There was consensus that part of Africa’s emergence from economic and development doldrums depends on, among other things, how the African countries trade among themselves. Further, there was concurrence among the delegates that regional economic integration is a must for Africa.
Delegates candidly acknowledged that a critical ingredient for the fulfilment of an “Africa Rising” vision is for African economies to promote and pursue trade among themselves. There was general acceptance that regional economic integration is a prerequisite for accelerated and sustainable economic growth of the African continent.
It is an undeniable fact that while regional trade has in other continents proven to be the catalyst for development, statistics in Africa paint a gloomy picture about our ability to trade amongst ourselves. For example, Europe’s trade figures for 2014 show that intra-regional trade in that continent stood at 69%. In Asia, that figure stood at 52% and in North America at 50% while Africa had the lowest level of intra-regional trade, at just 18%.
Africa can learn from the Asian success story on integration. As it is demonstrated by above figures, by fostering regional integration, Asia was able to create regional value chains and thus become more efficient.
One of the benefits we can derive from well managed integration is accelerated growth and development as transaction costs become lower, markets expand, there are lower risks associated with investment as well as pooling of regional resources.
Robert Carbaugh, one of the world’s renowned economists argues that regional economic integration can also help to prevent and resolve bloody conflicts by strengthening economic ties among countries. Regional integration is critical to the success of the AU Agenda 2063, a strategic framework for the socio-economic transformation of the continent.
The lessons we drew from WEF Africa have propelled us to take concrete steps in promoting economic cooperation with our fellow African countries. In this regard, KwaZuluNatal will invite delegates from different African countries to attend its provincial investment conference scheduled to take place in the province this year.
We want to form strong economic bonds with our fellow African countries simply because South Africa’s contemporary foreign policy is based on the principle that the future of country is fundamentally connected to that of the entire African continent.
Our goal of taking KwaZuluNatal and the country to greater heights will remain a pipe dream if we do not increase our economic co-operation efforts and further ensure that these translate into the visible empowerment of our people.
In concurrence with both our National Development Plan and the Constitution, bold leadership decisions have to be taken. Therefore, as we bolster our economic integration efforts by forging improved relations with other African states, we must do so without losing sight of our pro-poor growth goals of creating employment and growing the economy for the previously marginalised.
To paraphrase President Jacob Zuma in his address to delegates who attended WEF Africa, the truest measure of our inclusive growth and development efforts lies in the successful and equitable distribution of opportunities among all South Africans, not just a select few as per the present status quo.
One of the most powerful African proverbs indeed teaches us that: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” For this reason, as the South African government, we commit ourselves to ensuring that we continue to cement our continental and regional collaboration efforts.
What we are doing is not new. During Mr Mandela’s Presidency, the ANC foreign policy standpoint emphasised that South Africa should have strong vested interest is seeing economic growth taking place in all parts of the continent. To quote from the policy document:
Poverty
“South Africa should avoid using regional co-operation or integration as a vehicle for the one-sided promotion of its immediate interests. The long-term interests of the South African economy will best be served by an approach to regional cooperation and integration which seeks to promote balanced growth and development.”
We are happy that the issue of emancipating young people from the yokes of poverty and unemployment was also thoroughly discussed and concrete proposals made during WEF.
A lot has been said about the role that young people should play in translating into physical expression the ideal of prosperous and just world, free from poverty, illiteracy and underdevelopment.
Indeed the ideas that were shared during WEF do confirm that, while there may be challenges including inequality; climate change and poverty, young people are more than up to the task of not only confronting these challenges but resolving them. This gives us hope that, if these ideas are harnessed and implemented, they will indeed bring about a just and equitable world order that all of us yearn for.
We have no doubt that tapping in the wisdom of our fellow Africans, as WEF Africa called on us to do, we will be able to perfect our youth empowerment programmes. In our budget speech presented last week, we announced our three year plan valued at R94 million that will train 3425 young people in various technical skills such as diesel mechanics, boiler making, filter and turning, plumbing, steel works, bricklaying and concrete work.
The training programme is linked to placements so these skills are not lost due to a lack of practical work experience. A total of 1050 young people were trained in 2015, followed by 1125 in 2016. The target for 2017 is to train 1250 and ensure that they can placed in employment.
WEF did not only profile our country and the province of KwaZulu- Natal as a suitable location for investment but it also served as a platform for the province to showcase that it offers investment opportunities in the diverse sectors of the economy.
The event also provided an avenue for local entrepreneurs to interface with their global counterparts where, through business networking, they were able to forge partnerships essential to improve the province’s competitiveness in the global market.
The success of WEF Africa in Durban has made us decide to make a formal request for our city to be a permanent home for this continental showpiece. Just like WEF which is synonymous with Davos, we also want WEF Africa to be permanently associated with Durban.
Zikalala is the KZN ANC provincial chairman and the KZN MEC for Economic Development and Tourism.