The executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Elias Magosi, has emphasised that the region must move beyond exporting raw minerals and accelerate value addition to unlock industrial growth and economic transformation.
Magosi was speaking during the opening of the SADC Council of Ministers meeting in Pretoria on Thursday.
He said the region was richly endowed with critical minerals essential for the global energy transition but continued to export most of these resources in raw form.
“In mining, our challenge has never been scarcity, but value addition. While our region is significantly endowed with minerals, including those considered to be of relevance to energy transition such as cobalt, copper and manganese, amongst others, regrettably, they still leave our borders in raw form,” Magosi said.
He said the region had adopted the SADC Regional Mining Vision to reposition the mining sector as a catalyst for industrialisation by strengthening linkages between mining and downstream industries such as mineral beneficiation, equipment manufacturing and related services.
According to Magosi, about 20 potential regional mining projects worth an estimated $2.3 billion have been identified as viable investments.
“These projects focus on the manufacture of batteries, mining inputs and mining equipment, among others,” he said.
The region was making gradual progress in trade integration, with intra-regional trade in manufactured goods increasing from 19% to 22%, he added.
The expansion of the SADC Free Trade Area has also strengthened regional market integration following the entry of Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He said initiatives such as the introduction of the Electronic Certificate of Origin and the establishment of One-Stop Border Posts were helping to reduce trade barriers and improve efficiency.
Magosi said energy access remained uneven across the region. Countries like Mauritius and Seychelles have nearly achieved universal electricity access but much of the region lags this progress.
“In many parts of our region, electricity access remains below 60%, and in some member states it is below 30%.”
He said improving energy infrastructure and expanding cross-border power trade through the Southern African Power Pool would be essential to boosting industrial development and economic growth.
Projects such as the Malawi–Mozambique and Tanzania–Zambia power interconnectors are expected to strengthen regional electricity networks and support power trading among member states.
Magosi urged member states to accelerate the signing and ratification of the SADC Regional Development Fund agreement, which aims to finance key regional programmes. So far, nine member states have signed the agreement, but additional ratifications are required before the fund becomes operational.
“The world is shifting, and the current geopolitical environment is a reminder that we must become more united and innovative. The Regional Development Fund is our vehicle for transformation. Without it we stand still, and with it we can move forward together,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
