SADC Executive Secretary H.E. Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax has called on SADC Member States to involve civil society and other none-state entities in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of social security policies.
Delivering a keynote address at the Southern Africa Trust and Mail and Guardian: Investing in Future and Drivers of Change Awards ceremony last night, 28th October 2014 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dr. Tax said:
“Without this chain of relationships between governments, the private sector, civil society and citizens at large, it is inconceivable how we can progress and be a continent at peace with itself, prosperous and safe as envisioned by the African Union’s Agenda 2063”.
Dr. Tax said the 2014 SADC Summit theme: “SADC Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region’s Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition”, presents an opportunity for unlocking our potentials to the fullest, and as such an opportunity to utilize our diverse resources in transforming our economics, for the prosperity of our region and our citizens.
She added that SADC’s industrialisation strategy, “must therefore, in all essence, take into account regional and global value chains for there is no doubt that Africa’s growing markets will for a long time be the driver of growth. The potential for value chains is huge given that today production processes have become very much scattered across the globe as companies look out for competitive contexts and locations for their various products. Successful development of value chains requires a good balance between trade and industrialisation. In Africa, trade liberalisation undermined the continent’s industrial capacity as cheap products from elsewhere crowd out Africa’s manufacturing sector”.
The full speech is available on this website.
Insert photo shows Dr. Tax delivering the keynote address at the Southern Africa Trust and Mail and Guardian: Investing in Future and Drivers of Change Awards ceremony
