The SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government will meet this week in Harare, Zimbabwe to deliberate on the Strategy and Roadmap for the industrialisation of the SADC Region.

The strategy seeks to bring about major economic and technological transformation at regional and national levels and to address, among others, challenges of unemployment, undiversified industrial structures in SADC Member States and heavy dependence on exports of raw materials.

The SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap comes in the aftermath of the 34th Ordinary Summit held under the theme: “SADC Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region’s Diverse Recourses for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition” in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in August 2014.

The Industrialisation Strategy is aligned to the Continental Vision, Agenda 2063, a global strategy aimed at optimising the use of Africa’s resources for the benefit of all Africans.

The development of the Strategy and Roadmap was spearheaded by the SADC Ministerial Task Force (MTF) on Regional Economic Integration that comprises of the Ministers responsible for Trade and Industry, Finance, Economic Planning and Infrastructure Development.

It is expected that the this week’s Extraordinary Summit will approve the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap that will become the blue print for industrial development and enhance deeper economic integration in the Region.