The Director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Subregional Office for Southern Africa, Eunice Kamwendo, has called for stronger and more coordinated regional action to fully unlock the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). She said inclusive industrialisation remained the most viable pathway for development in Southern Africa and across the African continent. “To make AfCFTA a true game changer, we must focus on these four interconnected objectives to drive sustainable growth, industrialisation and regional integration,” she said.
She further stressed that ICSOE should go beyond dialogue and serve as an accountability platform, urging member states to take concrete actions to accelerate industrialisation, deepen regional value chains and fast-track AfCFTA implementation. United Nations Resident Coordinator for Eswatini, George Wachira, echoed the call for action, emphasising the need for practical and implementable strategies to address Africa’s long-standing economic challenges, including limited diversification, exposure to external shocks and underutilised industrial capacity. Wachira highlighted Eswatini’s strong industrial base, noting that manufactured goods accounted for nearly 80 percent of the country’s exports, well above the continental average.
He said Eswatini’s strategic location and commitment to regional cooperation position it as a potential regional production hub within the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He added that beyond AfCFTA, Southern Africa could leverage complementary frameworks such as the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap, the Tripartite Free Trade Area, and the COMESA–EAC–SADC regional infrastructure programmes to advance regional trade, industrialisation and inclusive growth. She said ECA’s technical partnership in developing the framework was expected to be completed by 2026 and noted progress under the Project on Innovative Climate Action, which supports green and inclusive industrialisation in six SADC countries. Describing AfCFTA as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shift from raw material exports to value-added production, Kaoma cited several ECA-supported initiatives.
Read Full Article on Zambia Monitor
