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E/ECA/SA/ICE.XXI/2015/Info.1
January 2015
UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Twenty First Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts
of Southern Africa (ICE)
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
12 - 13 March 2015
CONCEPT NOTE
Theme: “Accelerating Industrialization in Southern Africa through
Beneficiation and Value Addition”
P.O. Box 30647, Lusaka, Zambia · Tel: (260-1) 228 502/5 · Fax: (260-1) 236 949 Email: [email protected]
E/ECA/SA/ICE.XXI/2015/Info.1
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1. Introduction
The Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) is a United Nations General Assembly policy
sub-organ of the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic
Development established to provide a Forum for engaging member States’ senior policy makers on
policy and programme related matters in each of the five (5) sub regions of Africa. It constitutes an
integral part of UNECA’s governance machinery and meets annually to consider, provide guidance
and endorse the overall formulation and implementation of the Sub Regional Office (SRO’s)
programme of work in line with the priorities of each sub region and proffer recommendations with
a view to ensuring that the development imperatives of the sub regions are fully reflected in the
overall work programme of ECA.
The pursuit of industrialization has emerged as one of the priorities of African economies as they
seek to address socio-economic challenges. The Southern African region seeks to promote
industrialization through the exploitation of natural resources for economic transformation and
development. The regional focus on industrialization is in line with the continental decision at the
Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (forty-sixth
session of the Economic Commission for Africa)1, held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 25 and 26
March 2013 which, inter alia, called on African governments to adopt and implement coherent
industrial policies in order to increase value addition in local production and deepen linkages
between the commodity sector and other economic sectors. African Governments were urged to
create institutional industrial policy mechanisms to develop country-specific, industrial policy road
maps for value addition in close collaboration with all stakeholders.
Value addition in agricultural products and beneficiation of natural resources, including minerals
are an integral part of sub regional and national industrial policy strategies. Local value addition
and beneficiation enables economies to exploit the strong growth linkages and multiplier effects
which evolve from such strategies. At the Tripartite level, the promotion of value addition and
product diversification is a main focus of the Industrialization Pillar of the Tripartite Free Trade
Area. At the Southern African Development Community (SADC) level, the 34th Ordinary Summit
of regional Heads of State and Government (HOS) in August 2014 reaffirmed the region’s
commitment to accelerated industrial development through the processing of natural resources in
line with the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (2005-2020) (RISDP). The summit
emphasized that the SADC region should take advantage of its rich endowment in natural resources
to create more employment and income by introducing higher stages of beneficiation and
transformation at the regional level as opposed to the export of raw materials at the primary stages.
The region should urgently embark on a regional development approach that prioritises
industrialisation based on mutually beneficial principles taking into account development needs of
all its member States as enshrined in the SADC Treaty. Consequently, the Summit directed the
SADC Secretariat to produce a “Strategy and Roadmap on Industrialization for the SADC Region”
that will be considered at an extra-ordinary SADC Summit to be convened in early 2015.
Value addition and beneficiation strategies are key components of the SADC’s Trade and Economic
Liberalization and Development Priority Intervention Area in the RISDP. In a similar manner, the
region’s Industrial Upgrading and Modernisation Programme (IUMP) lists agro-processing and
mineral beneficiation among its nine priority sectors, a demonstration of the key role of these
sectors. The SADC region’s Industrial Development Policy Framework (IDPF) of 2012 also
1
www.un.org/regionalcommissions/sessions.html
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identifies value addition on local primary resources as a priority for the sub- region. Sectoral
policies and protocols, such as the Regional Agricultural Policy for agriculture and the
Harmonization Policy Framework for the minerals sector, emphasize value addition and enhancing
vertical relationships in local and regional production chains as important to industrial
transformation and socio-economic development. Thus, value addition and beneficiation are central
to the regional industrialization strategy.
The promotion of value chains and beneficiation are consistent features of national-level industrial
policies in the sub region. For example, the Botswana Economic Diversification Drive Medium-to
Long-Term Strategy (2011-2016) cites the promotion of sustainable beneficiation of natural
resources as a key objective. The vision of Zimbabwe’s Industrial Development Policy (2012-2016)
is to transform the country from a producer of primary goods into a producer of processed valueadded goods. Malawi includes value-addition in three prioritized agricultural export-oriented
clusters as one of the four Priority Areas of its National Export Strategy (2013-2018). South
Africa’s Department of Minerals and Energy has developed a Beneficiation Strategy to encourage
the development of the country’s mineral value chains. One of the policy objectives of Zambia’s
Commercial, Trade and Industrial Policy is to stimulate and encourage value-addition activities on
primary exports to increase export revenue and create jobs. These initiatives are just some of the
examples of how central the promotion of value chains is to national development strategies in the
region.
The themes of the most recent ICE Sessions for Southern Africa illustrate the importance which the
region attaches to further transformation of natural resources as a route towards socio-economic
development and transformation. For example, the 19th ICE Session held under the theme
“Industrialisation for Economic Transformation and Sustainable Development in Southern Africa:
Addressing the Gaps”, explored the policy and technical gaps to industrialization and identified the
agricultural sector as having higher prospects for linkages with the rest of the economy and the
global export market. It urged member States to promote value addition in natural resources to
strengthen forward and backward linkages with other sectors of the economy. Similarly, the 20 th
Session explored how the vast natural resources in the region could contribute to inclusive growth
and identified value addition and beneficiation as key strategies towards enhancing local benefits
and promoting the participation of local citizens along the product value chains. In addition to
exploiting the multiplier benefits to the local economy, local value addition and beneficiation
contributes to export diversification and in turn, increasing the revenues accruing to member States.
The potential to exploit the multitude of linkages from the vast resource endowments through value
addition exists in the region. However, member States face many challenges which include:
inadequate transport infrastructure, technological deficiencies, unreliable power supply, limited
financing, administrative restrictions on the free flow of goods and labour within the region, weak
capacity in manufacturing and lack of necessary skills for producing higher value products. The
boundary constraints to local value addition and beneficiation for the various commodities
produced in the region vary across countries.
The findings of the study on “Accelerating Industrialization in Southern Africa through
beneficiation and value addition” will provide the 21st ICE with specific examples on how
beneficiation and value addition can spur industrialization. The session will seek to build on the
work of the 19th and 20th Sessions of the ICE by developing strategies to strengthen domestic and
regional value addition in agriculture and natural resource beneficiation. By responding to the
regional focus for industrialization strategies, the ICE Session will also contribute concretely to
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regional work on a road map and strategy on industrialization being coordinated by the SADC
Secretariat for submission to an Extra-Ordinary Summit of HOS in April 2015.
2. Objectives of the 21st ICE
The current session of the ICE will: (i) review the social and economic conditions and the state of
inequality in Southern Africa (ii) consider and endorse the implementation of the programme of
work of the ECA Southern Africa Sub-Regional Office, the planned programme of Work and
budget; and (iii) Implementation of regional and international agendas, including NEPAD and other
special initiatives in the sub region focusing on The Post 2015 Development Agenda and SADC’s
Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan and COMESA Strategy: Assessing Convergence.
The delegates will proffer recommendations towards ensuring that the development imperatives of
the sub region are fully reflected in the overall work programme of ECA and to guide member
States in addressing socio-economic challenges.
In addition to carrying out its statutory mandate, the 21st ICE will also review the recommendations
of the study on “Accelerating Industrialization in Southern Africa through beneficiation and
value addition” as well as the recommendations of the AEGM on “Agro-industry development for
food and nutritional security in Southern Africa”.
The delegates will interrogate prospects, constraints and challenges to value addition and
beneficiation and agro-industry development and will critically examine the various national and
sub regional strategies to address the challenges. Issues to be addressed will include:
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The challenges that exist in pursuing policies for completing value chains (locally and
regionally);
Strategies for value addition and beneficiation in agriculture and natural resources that have
been successful elsewhere and what lessons these experiences provide;
Policy instruments that can be employed to enhance forward and backward linkages in
agriculture and natural resources;
The boundary conditions for local value addition and beneficiation, generally and for
specific minerals;
The feasibility of regional value addition and beneficiation strategies and the attendant
international trade implications, if any;
The priority commodities for value addition and beneficiation;
The need for a regional beneficiation strategy and the implications thereof; and
The promotion of agro-industrial development for national and regional food security and
the associated challenges.
Panel discussions will complement the reflections of the delegates on the findings and
recommendations of the study and the recommendations of the AEGM.
3. Format
The 21st ICE will be held in plenary and will comprise of presentations and discussions on; (i)
Social and economic conditions and the state of inequality in Southern Africa (ii) Implementation
of the programme of work of SRO-SA and planned work for 2015 and (iii) Implementation of
regional and international agendas, including NEPAD and other special initiatives in the sub region
focusing on the Post 2015 Development Agenda and SADC’s Regional Indicative Strategic
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Development Plan and COMESA Strategy: Assessing Convergence The findings of the study on,
“Accelerating Industrialization in Southern Africa through beneficiation and value addition”
will be presented for consideration by the delegates. This presentation will be complemented by the
recommendations of the Ad-hoc Expert Group Meeting on “Agro-industry development for food
and nutritional security in Southern Africa” which will be submitted for the consideration and
adoption by the delegates. A moderated panel discussion will reflect deeper on themes around value
addition and beneficiation and agro-industry development.
4. Expected Output
The outcomes of the 21st ICE will comprise of the following:
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The Outcome statement of the meeting reflecting the main observations and
recommendations of the ICE Session towards accelerating industrialization through value
addition and beneficiation;
The approved and adopted work programme of the office for 2015; and
Recommendations towards strengthening all the study reports considered by the 21st Session
of the ICE.
5. Participants
The ICE participants will comprise of high level officials of the eleven member States covered by
the Office and representatives of SADC and COMESA Secretariats. Representatives from other UN
agencies, the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, Civil Society
Organisations, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, academia, civil society and professional
organisations will be invited to participate in the meeting.
6. Dates & Venue
The 21st Session of the ICE of Southern Africa is scheduled to be held on 12th and 13th March 2015,
in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The Government of Zimbabwe has offered to host the meeting at The
Kingdom Hotel in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe where both the preceding Ad-hoc Expert Group
meeting and 21st ICE session will take place.
7. General Information
A detailed and comprehensive Information note for delegates and participants will be e-mailed prior
to the ICE meeting and will also posted on the ECA website. The note will contain useful
information on organisational logistics, travelling and immigration arrangements and formalities,
visa and health requirements, hotel accommodation and other general information on the hosting
country.
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8. Contacts
Enquiries and queries on the meetings and any related aspect should be addressed to the following:
Ms. Dailes Matoka
Senior Staff Assistant
ECA-SA
P.O. Box 30647,
Lusaka, ZAMBIA
Tel: (260-211) 228 502-5
Fax: (260-211) 236 949
E-mail: [email protected]
Copied to:
Mr. Oliver Maponga
Economic Affairs Officer
ECA-SA
P O Box 30647,
Lusaka, ZAMBIA
Tel: (260-211) 228 502-5
Fax: (260-211) 236 949
E-mail: [email protected]