SADC Urged to Turn Mineral and Agricultural Wealth into Industrial Growth

By JWB Correspondent Abah Igbu in KZN

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has urged Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states to move with urgency in transforming the region’s vast mineral and agricultural resources into industrial production, regional value chains and sustainable economic prosperity.

Addressing Heads of State and Government at the 46th Ordinary SADC Summit in Durban on August 17, ECA Executive Secretary Claver Gatete said Southern Africa possesses the resources needed to build globally competitive industries but continues to lose significant economic value by exporting raw materials for processiSADC Urged to Turn Mineral and Agricultural Wealth into Industrial Growthng elsewhere.

“Africa exports minerals; others manufacture batteries, electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies. Africa exports agricultural commodities; others process, package and market higher-value food products,” Gatete said.

He highlighted Southern Africa’s substantial deposits of platinum, lithium, diamonds, manganese, cobalt and copper, as well as its fertile agricultural land, manufacturing capacity, financial markets and strategic transport corridors connecting the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.

Africa holds approximately 30 percent of global reserves of critical energy-transition minerals, with demand for these resources projected to more than triple by 2030 under net-zero scenarios.

Despite this enormous resource base, Gatete noted that minerals currently account for only about 7 percent of direct employment in SADC, underscoring the need to move beyond extraction towards beneficiation, manufacturing and value addition.

ECA research illustrates the potential economic advantage of such a transition. A 10,000-tonne battery precursor plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo could cost approximately US$39 million, around three times less than an equivalent facility in the United States, while potentially reducing emissions associated with supply chains currently routed through China.

Gatete outlined six key priorities for accelerating industrialisation across the region: mobilising large-scale financing and partnerships; developing regional critical-mineral value chains; transforming agriculture into an industrialisation engine; strengthening regional fertiliser and agricultural-input production; expanding regional trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA); and accelerating investment in reliable energy and enabling infrastructure.

He said governments alone could not finance the required transformation and called for greater participation by development finance institutions, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and the private sector in developing bankable regional projects.

The ECA Executive Secretary also stressed the importance of moving from mineral extraction to integrated industries covering extraction, refining, precursor materials, component manufacturing and finished products.

Agriculture, he said, should similarly be transformed through investment in mechanisation, irrigation, storage, food processing, cold chains, seed systems and export infrastructure.

Regional cooperation is already being advanced through initiatives involving the ECA and the African Development Bank focused on critical mineral value chains and strategic corridors.

These include the Battery and Electric Vehicle Value Chain linking the DRC, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa; the Lithium Industrialisation Corridor connecting Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa; the Graphite Processing Corridor covering Mozambique, Madagascar and Tanzania; and the Iron Ore, Manganese and Green Industrial Materials Corridor, involving several African mineral-producing countries including Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Gatete said Southern Africa has the essential ingredients required to establish competitive production networks, including minerals, agriculture, energy resources, finance, ports, skills and growing markets.

“Southern Africa has the minerals, agriculture, energy, finance, ports, skills and markets to build competitive regional production networks. The pathway is clear: implementation at scale, coordinated regional action and sustained investment,” he said.

The ECA reaffirmed its commitment to working with SADC, the African Development Bank and other partners to translate the region’s resource wealth into industrial capacity, employment and long-term economic development.