Business leaders across Southern Africa are pushing for deeper industrial integration and a shift away from raw material exports to insulate the regional economy from global supply chain shocks and drive long-term job creation.
Speaking at the conclusion of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Industrialisation Week last Thursday, Khulekani Mathe, Chairperson of the SADC Business Council and CEO of Business Unity South Africa, urged governments and private sector players to accelerate the development of local value chains.
Despite abundant natural resources and an expanding entrepreneurial base, industrial progress across the 16-nation bloc remains bottlenecked by structural hurdles.
“Industrialisation continues to be constrained by fragmented regional value chains, inadequate infrastructure, limited industrial financing, technological gaps, supply chain disruptions and increasing global competition,” Mathe said.
A central priority for the bloc is leveraging its vast reserves of critical minerals. Rather than shipping unprocessed commodities abroad, regional leaders are targeting downstream processing and local manufacturing to capture higher margins and build domestic industrial capacity.
The calls for reform extend beyond mining into technology and agriculture. Discussions throughout the week-long summit spanned agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, automotive manufacturing, and artificial intelligence sectors seen as pivotal to modernizing the region’s economies.
“Digital transformation, green transition, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are rapidly shaping global production systems and international trade,” Mathe noted, stressing the urgency of funding digital infrastructure, innovation, and skills development.
Strengthening agricultural supply chains and modernizing food systems also remain crucial to securing regional food supply while expanding employment opportunities for youth and women, according to the council.
