Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa urged southern African countries to reduce reliance on external funding and build their own financial and industrial capacity, warning that dependence could compromise sovereignty and national priorities.
“While we value our international partnerships, experience and hindsight on external funding, which is the risk to compromise our sovereignty and national priorities. We must therefore build and enhance our own financial and industrial capabilities,” Mnangagwa told the SADC summit in Durban on Monday.
Mnangagwa also called for a shift from exporting raw materials to processing and manufacturing them locally.
“By processing our minerals, we create jobs, foster innovation and retain the value that rightfully belongs to our people,” he said.
The Zimbabwean leader also highlighted investment in infrastructure, water, education and skills as key to accelerating regional industrialisation.
SADC groups 16 countries and more than 400 million people across a region rich in copper, cobalt, lithium and other minerals critical to global industries.
Southern African countries are seeking to capture more value from those resources by processing them locally rather than exporting them raw, while boosting regional infrastructure and trade.
Source: Viory
