Zimpapers Logo

Ambassador Bimha

Senior Reporter
All is set for the Extraordinary Summit of Sadc Heads of State and Government on Wednesday with the region’s executive secretary, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, jetting into the country yesterday for preparatory meetings.The Extraordinary Summit starts today with meetings of the Standing Committee of Senior Officials whose officials also arrived yesterday.

The meeting is a culmination of a resolution made by the regional leaders during the 34th Sadc Summit in Victoria Falls in August last year to give impetus to beneficiation and value addition as part of a broader industrialisation strategy.

This saw experts on industrialisation working  on an Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap that is  set to be endorsed by the Heads of State and Government.

Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Ambassador Joey Bimha, said all was set for the event and meetings for the Standing Committee of Senior Officials would end tomorrow.

“The Sadc executive secretary Dr Tax arrived today and also in the country, among other various  delegates, is the region’s deputy executive secretary for regional integration Dr Thembinkosi Mhlongo,” he said.

“The senior officials are meeting up to Sunday. Monday and Tuesday will be characterised by meetings of the Council of Ministers followed by the Summit on Wednesday.

“All the logistics are in place, we are ready for them and the Wednesday event will be at Rainbow Towers, while the other meetings preceding that will take place at Meikles Hotel.”

African Union Commission chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa executive secretary Dr Carlos Lopez and Comesa secretary general Dr Sindiso Ngwenya, have also been invited to the event.

Added Ambassador Bimha: “What we expect to be discussed by the Standing Committee of Senior Officials are the recommendations made by the Ministerial Taskforce on Regional Economic Integration before they also make recommendations to the Council of Ministers who will in turn forward them to the Heads of State and Government for endorsement, which we hope will happen.”

The Sadc Ministerial Taskforce on Regional Economic Integration met in Harare in February and held a series of meetings to reflect on progress and give guidance to expedite the development of a regional industrial strategy.

If endorsed, the recommendations would see Southern Africa having a comprehensive industrialisation strategy that will deepen the regional bloc’s integration strategy agenda while accelerating poverty eradication.

The roadmap will facilitate accelerated industrialisation through effective and practical interventions, while promoting and enabling the region to use its diverse resources to achieve economic and social development through beneficiation and value addition.

This dovetails with Zimbabwe’s economic blue print, Zim-Asset, which emphasises on value addition and beneficiation of natural resources before they are exported.