By BRIAN HATYOKA in Victoria Falls town, Zimbabwe –

• Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba (middle) with Zambia’s Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Bob Sichinga
(far left in rear seat), follow proceedings at the 34th ordinary Summit of the SADC Heads of State and Government in Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls yesterday. (Inset) Vice-President Guy Scott is leading the Zambian delegation. Picture by BRIAN HATYOKA

THE Southern African Development Community (SADC) region should wean itself from exporting raw materials and instead create value chains that lead to the exportation of finished products, new chairperson Robert Mugabe has said.

Meanwhile, Mr Mugabe, who is Zimbabwe President, has paid glowing tribute to Zambia’s First Republican President Kenneth Kaunda and other freedom fighters in Southern Africa for liberating the region.

Mr Mugabe said there was need for Southern Africa to create value chains that lead to the exportation of finished products, as the region had abundant resources capable of playing a pivotal role in the development and increase employment opportunities in all SADC member states.

He was speaking at Elephant Hills Resort in Victoria Falls town in Zimbabwe yesterday during the official opening of the 34th Ordinary Summit of the SADC Heads of State and Government.

Zambia’s Republican Vice-President Guy Scott, Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba, Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Bob Sichinga and Zambia’s High Commissioner to Zimbabwe Ndiyoyi Mutiti were among those who attended the Summit.

The Summit, which attracted Heads of State and representatives from all 14 SADC member States, is being held under the theme ‘SADC: Leveraging the region’s resources for sustainable economic and social development through beneficiation and value addition’.

Mr Mugabe said he was confident that the Summit would lay a foundation for the necessary strategies as well as plans of actions on the beneficiation and value addition of the region’s natural resources.

“The SADC region has abundant resources, instead of being sold in raw form, at low prices, must instead be exploited and beneficiated, in order to add value and cost to those products which we eventually export.

“This process should assist us in our efforts to industrialise, and in turn, increase employment opportunities for our people in the region,” Mr Mugabe said.

He said the region was concerned about the persistent skewed trade imbalance among member States which justified the pursuance of robust industrialisation policies across the region to create jobs and curb labour migration.

Mr Mugabe, who also condemned Israel’s killing of innocent children and women in Gaza, noted that SADC’s continued over-reliance on the generosity and goodwill from cooperating partners tended to compromise the region’s ownership and sustainability of programmes.

He said the region should have fewer and focused programmes which were in line with the vision of promoting regional integration.

Mr Mugabe, who also launched the SADC yellow book and honoured Zimbabwe’s freedom fighter Hashim Mbita, saluted Dr Kaunda and other former front liners in Southern Africa for championing the liberation struggle.

He said there was need to honour former liberators, especially former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere who helped to liberate the entire African continent.

Outgoing SADC chairperson Arthur Peter Mutharika urged member States to support Mr Mugabe to promote economic transformation in the region.

Prof Mtharika, who is Malawi President, thanked SADC member States for the support given to his country during the recent elections where he was elected as Head of State.

African Union (AU) chairperson Nkosazana Dhlamini-Zuma said the continent did not have a lot of skilled human resource to drive the economies.

Dr Zuma called for a skills revolution among the young and old to boost the economies of the continent.