The Sunday News
THE 34th Sadc Summit, which will see President Mugabe rightly taking over the chair of the 15-member regional body, roars into life today at the majestic Victoria Falls with debate on how member States can turn around their economic fortunes expected to take centre stage.The theme for this year’s summit is “Sadc Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region’s Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development”. The region could not have come up with a better theme considering the economic situation African countries find themselves in as there is no beneficiation of the abundant raw materials found on the continent.
Addressing journalists in Victoria Falls yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, who is the Sadc Council of Ministers chairperson said 90 percent of the region’s resources are being exported raw.
Dr Mumbengegwi also said the theme of the conference was carefully selected, tapping in on the expertise and experience of the secretariat.
“Industrialisation is the bedrock of economic development. We cannot improve the quality of life of our people if we do not attend to industrialisation which also means adding value to our resources. At the moment 90 percent of our resources are exported raw.
“It is vital that our region focuses on this issue on the beneficiation of our resources so that their value increases when we export,” said Dr Mumbengegwi.
“In Zimbabwe, for example, we export all our tobacco raw and realise only 10 percent value in the process. If we were to value add, our revenue would increase ten-fold.”
It is against such sentiments that we urge our regional leaders to vigorously tackle the issue of beneficiation so that we work towards reversing this trend where foreign investors realise more as raw materials such as minerals are processed in their countries.
However, as we debate on the issue, we take solace from the fact that Zimbabwe under the visionary leadership of President Mugabe has already taken steps by coming up with the Indigenisation Policy where locals have majority stakes in critical economic sectors such as mining. Zimbabwe has come up with a law where in mining 51 percent of shares must be in the hands of locals.
We also believe that as Sadc tackles the uneven economic playing ground, the region will be in good hands with President Mugabe at the helm of the organisation.
President Mugabe has proven that he is championing the cause of fellow blacks through tackling head-on economic imbalances.
He has won world admiration from progressive forces by leading Zimbabweans to reclaim their land from the white minority who were holding on to fertile land while the majority black were squashed on barren pieces of land. Today Zimbabweans are proud owners of land, a development, which has seen some becoming millionaires from agricultural activities.
President Mugabe is also a proven freedom fighter who along with the late Father Zimbabwe, Dr Joshua Nkomo, were at the fore-front in the fight against colonial rule.
When it comes to issues affecting the majority blacks, President Mugabe doesn’t blink, so Zimbabwe, Sadc and the whole of Africa are blessed to have someone of his stature.
President Mugabe will also next year assume the chairmanship of the African Union, so the Sadc post is a precursor for bigger things and is also testimony of the confidence that Africa reposes in his leadership despite the vilification from the racist Western countries.
