Lusaka, Zambia 28 May 2021 (ECA) – The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), is committed to supporting member States to domesticate the regional industrial strategies and mainstream them coherently into national development plans and policies to create a platform for the development of regional value chains.
This was said Thursday by the ECA’s Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa Acting Director, Sizo Mhlanga, in his welcoming remarks during a two-day Forum on the Promotion and Implementation of Regional and National Industrialization Policies for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in Southern Africa held on Monday 27 and 28 May 2021. “As you are aware, economic growth in Southern Africa declined from 2.9 percent in 2017 to 1.9 per cent in 2018 and to only 1.4 per cent in 2019. Furthermore, the COVID-19-induced disruptions pushed the region into recession in 2020. The heavy regional dependence on primary commodities and the associated disruption in international supply