Line up for SADC fund, Bulawayo industries urged

RENOWNED industrialist, Mr Busisa Moyo, has urged Bulawayo industries to strategically position themselves to capitalise on the proposed SADC Regional Development Fund.

The fund, designed almost 10 years ago, aims to reduce Southern Africa’s dependence on external support by providing resources for development programmes, financing economic growth and supporting regional infrastructure development and social development at concessionary rates.

The ultimate goal is to drive economic growth, create employment, and tap into broader markets such as the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

The historic agreement was operationalised in January 2021 to promote economic integration across the continent by eliminating tariffs on 90 percent of goods traded between member states over 10 years.

Speaking at a southern region workshop held by the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (Zida), Mr Moyo emphasised the potential benefit Bulawayo could derive from the fund, given its strategic location and surplus infrastructure. He stated that the region could re-establish itself as Zimbabwe’s manufacturing hub if it made use of the brownfield opportunities presented by the idle factory shells in the area.

Drawing from insights derived from the recent SADC Industrialisation Week, Mr Moyo said Bulawayo’s strategic location and the existence of idle infrastructure places it in a prime position to re-establish itself as a manufacturing hub.

Mr Moyo further highlighted the fund’s importance in promoting innovation for sustainable development, particularly through public-private partnerships, which could drive the regional agenda for industrialisation.
“At the SADC Industrialisation Week, we spoke about the SADC Regional Development Fund, it was a big topic,” he said.

“There is an urgent need to operationalise the SADC Regional Development Fund to propel the industrialisation agenda in the region.

“If we have a fund such as the proposed one, Bulawayo has the potential to re-establish itself as the manufacturing hub of Zimbabwe and the region because of idle factory shells.

“As Bulawayo, we need to look out for the SADC Regional Development Fund because we must realise the need to have a pool of funds,” said Mr Moyo.

He emphasised that under President Mnangagwa’s tenure, Zimbabwe would play a crucial role in guiding the implementation of the summit resolutions to expedite the SADC’s industrialisation agenda.

Production and manufacturing remain at the heart of Bulawayo’s restoration as a former industrial hub, in line with the National Development Strategy.

The city was once the epicentre of different sectors, ranging from textile to engineering, but it has fallen from grace.
With the proposed regional fund, Bulawayo can leverage its location, infrastructure and investment potential to once again become the powerhouse of southern African industries.

There are sentiments that SADC’s industrialisation agenda is moving at a slow pace and needs to be expedited by building a stronger research and development architecture supported by adequate funding.

“This year, as President Mnangagwa is the chair of SADC, we want to be aligned and show as an example, as a format, the issue of following through resolutions that came out at the SADC Industrialisation Week,” he said.
“Key among those was an issue of aligning our laws as a region, finding common projects that could be of mutual benefit to several countries.”-chroncile