The 27th ICSOE Meeting of Southern Africa Elects a New Bureau to propel industrialization in Southern Africa

Abstract

The 27th Meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee of Senior Officials and Experts (ICSOE) of Southern Africa elected Malawi as Chair, Mozambique as Vice-Chair and Zimbabwe as Rapporteur to lead the Bureau and promote inclusive industrialization, greater resilience and wealth creation. The theme of the 27 ICSOE, “Building back better from COVID-19 in Southern Africa: Fostering Commodity-based Industrialization, manufacturing and Regional Value-Chains”, is consistent with the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020-2030 which aims to promote regional value chains and increase value addition in selected priority sectors such as agro processing, mineral beneficiation and pharmaceuticals and the COMESA Industrialization Policy 2015-2030 which promotes regional integration through trade and human resource development for the benefit of the region. The meeting concluded with an outcome statement and it was resolved that the 28 ICSOE will be held in Maputo, Mozambique in 2022.