Speaking at UKZN, President Cyril Ramaphosa said SADC must stop exporting raw minerals while importing finished products, urging countries to build stronger regional industries and trade networks.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on Southern African countries to reduce their dependence on international markets and use the region’s mineral wealth to drive its own industrialisation.
Speaking at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban on Friday ahead of the 46th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit, Ramaphosa said the region had the resources, skills and markets needed to build a stronger integrated economy.
“We export the ore and we import the battery,” Ramaphosa said.
“We supply an industrial revolution taking place somewhere else and we then purchase its products at a price set by others.”
