Source: "Speeches through the years: Cde. Robert Gabriel Mugabe (Feb. 21, 1924- Present)", pgs. 102-105
Your Majesty, King Mswati III, of the Kingdom of Swaziland;
Your Excellencies, SADC Heads of State and Government;
The Executive Secretary of SADC, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax;
Honourable Ministers;
SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials;
Heads of Other Regional Organisations Here Present;
Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen;
Comrades and Friends.
It is with great honour and pleasure that I, on behalf of the Government and people of Zimbabwe, welcome you to this Extraordinary Summit. We feel greatly honoured to host you, this time in Harare, the Sunshine City. It is my hope that Harare will provide a conducive atmosphere for us to apply our minds in crafting a strategy for the industrialisation of our Region. We believe this was long overdue.
Your presence attests to your commitment to the ideals of SADC, and to the collective resolve to accelerate the industrialisation of our region. I have all the confidence that this Summit will be a resounding success and that the decisions we make, will enhance closer integration in our Region.
I wish to particularly extend a very special welcome to colleagues among us, who are participating in our meetings, for the first time since their assumption of office. In this regard, I wish to acknowledge amongst us, the presence of: His Excellency Mr. Edgar Lungu, President of the Republic of Zambia, His Excellency Filipe Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique, His Excellency Hage Geingob, President of the Republic of Namibia, and for the second time, Honourable Pakalitha Mosisili, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Your Excellencies,
We congratulate you on successfully holding peaceful and democratic elections in your countries. We welcome you and look forward to working closely with you for the betterment of our people, the Region and the Continent at large.
Allow me to also extend, on behalf of SADC, sincere congratulations to the brotherly people of the Kingdom of Lesotho for holding peaceful, transparent, free and fair elections, in accordance with the SADC requirements. We commend them for showing political maturity by accepting the outcome of the elections. May I, in the same vein, commend the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, His Excellency President Jacob Zuma and the SADC Facilitator on Lesotho, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, for guiding the peace process to its successful conclusion.
Your Majesty, Your Excellencies,
Our region is endowed with abundant and diverse natural resources. Just to illustrate this point, our mineral sector alone, contributes to world production; about 6% of coal, 7% of nickel, 8% of copper, 13% of uranium, 15% of manganese, 18% of cobalt, 21% of zinc, 26% of gold, 41% of chromite, 55% of diamonds and 72% of the platinum group of metals. This is our contribution to the world.
But alas, despite the rich and diverse endowments of our region, about 70% of our people continue to live below the poverty datum line. By exporting our natural resources in their raw form, we are not only earning marginal benefits from them, we are in essence compromising our efforts to create jobs, diversify our products, and develop our industries and ultimately thus ultimately exposing our economies to the vagaries of the fluctuations of the global resource markets.
The situation is equally discouraging in other sectors. In agriculture, SADC countries have remained as sources of unprocessed agricultural produce, thus earning a mere 10% of the actual value of our products. This sad story extends beyond SADC to other African countries.
Your Excellencies,
It is imperative for us to reverse this trend if we are to achieve self-sustaining development for our countries. It is only through adding value to our products that we can make the first step. Value addition and beneficiation will lead to increased returns from the export of our tobacco, cocoa, coffee, cotton, wood, and sugar among others. If we continue as exporters of raw materials, we are sure to remain trapped in the jaws of underdevelopment, while those who add value on our behalf flourish at our expense.
Your Majesty, Esteemed Colleagues,
As you are aware, the volume of intra-SADC trade remains very low. This is notwithstanding our persistent endeavours to boost trade within the region through the Free Trade Area. Statistics show that import figures between ourselves and the Asia Pacific region account for 45%, while with the EU it stands at 27%. Sadly, imports from within the region are a paltry 10%, with raw materials and semiprocessed goods accounting for the bulk of the exchange.
It is therefore evident that our focus on reducing and eliminating tariffs has not brought about the intended socio-economic development and well-being of our people.
There is therefore need for collective action on our part to put in place effective strategies to boost the productive capacity of our industries. Enhanced productive capacities will enable our industry to reap the benefits from the market opportunities created by trade liberalisation.
Cognisant of the critical role that industrialisation plays in winning the fight against poverty, the majority of us, at national level, have already embraced industrialisation policy frameworks and programmes that emphasise value addition and beneficiation. It is therefore imperative that, driven by that conviction, we adopt the same paradigm shift at regional level, through embracing a regional integration and development strategy that prioritises industrialisation. The potential benefits that we stand to derive from exploiting comparative and competitive advantages as well as local and regional value chains are immense.
Your Majesty, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,
Since our 2014 Summit in Victoria Falls, our Task Force on Regional Economic Integration has been painstakingly working on a Regional Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap, in line with instructions we gave them. I am also informed that our Council of Ministers have considered and adopted their recommendations. I am confident that the Strategy, if implemented effectively, has the potential of unlocking opportunities beyond our borders, leading to sustained economic growth and development. It is my hope that once we have considered and adopted these recommendations, we will move on to the most important task – that of implementing our decisions.
As we implement our regional industrialisation strategy, it is also imperative to develop those sectors that enhance the effectiveness of this strategy. One such area is our infrastructure. As SADC, we already have a Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan. It will be important to ensure that this plan is in tandem with our industrial strategy.
Another area of critical importance in our strategy is that of research and development which is pivotal to innovative approaches needed to create new products. The development of critical skills and expertise that gives us scientists and engineers is therefore of paramount importance.
Your Majesty, Excellencies,
Last but most important, is the need for the region to work out effective financial mechanisms to fund the regional industrialisation strategy. We cannot expect those who benefit from our status as exporters or raw materials to fund our effort to wean ourselves from this unequal relationship, a relationship in which they have the prerogative of dictating the terms of trade.
In our noble march towards an industrialised SADC, we should never forget that our women and the youth are the backbone of our economies, particularly in the micro, small and medium enterprises sector. They are, without doubt, our future. We should therefore leave no stone unturned in our efforts to empower them, including the provision of the requisite resources for their programmes.
Your Majesty, Excellencies,
Allow me to express my appreciation to the Council of Ministers, Madam Executive Secretary, and all involved, for the energies they expended in coming up, within record time, with the Draft Strategy and Roadmap that would be under consideration today. I want to commend you all for a job well done.
I wish to invite us all, to exercise our minds during our deliberations, with the key objectives of deepening regional integration and cooperation, and eradicating poverty from our sub-region. I have no doubt that, as a collective, we have the pedigree to succeed and take this region to a whole new level. Let this Summit be another decisive step towards achieving the ideals of the founding fathers, not only of SADC, but of the whole continent.
I thank you.
Last updated: 20 Janaury 2026