Sadc council of ministers and heads of states last week gathered in Harare for an extraordinary meeting to discuss, among other things, the progress in the development of the Sadc Strategy and Road Map.
TAPIWA ZIVIRA
The summit considered and approved the Sadc industrialisation strategy which involves key issues like industrialisation, competitiveness and regional integration for industrial development and economic prosperity.
The inaugural meeting was held in Victoria Falls meeting held in August last year and among its resolutions were to discourage the export of primary goods and to encourage industrialisation within the region.
Sadc exports within the region, products like oil and gas, agricultural products, electricity and some clothing and textile while internationally, the region exports mainly coal, manganese ores, platinum, gold and diamonds.
With the bloc focused on regional integration and poverty eradication through economic development and ensuring peace and stability within southern Africa and its rotational chairmanship currently held by Zimbabwe, Sadc is currently working on its 15-year (2005-2015) Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP)
RISDP has in it key milestones to assist in measuring the progress towards regional integration and aims to achieve a common market this year and will move towards monetary union through macro-economic convergence by next year and looks to a common currency and becoming an economic union like the European Union by 2018.
