President Michel addresses SADC Summit |19 August 2014

‘African countries need to diversify their economies’

President James Michel has called for the increase of export of manufactured products as a priority for SADC (Southern African Development Community) economies.

"Wealth is created through value addition; we need to diversify our economies. Africa represents only 3% of global trade. Africa is exceedingly rich in natural resources therefore we need a renewed focus on the importance of services in economic development and the possibilities for leveraging Global Value Chains to drive rapid and sustainable growth in income and employment," said Mr Michel.

President Michel was speaking at the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government which opened on Sunday in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

The theme of the summit is ‘SADC Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region's Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition.'

At the ceremony, the chairmanship of the SADC was assumed by Zimbabwe, following a handover from Malawi.

During his intervention at the summit, President Michel congratulated Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on assuming the chairmanship of SADC.

The President noted that the general political and security situation in the SADC region is stable, and that this stability would “drive common agenda for economic integration and for the advancement of our respective countries”.

The SADC leaders all welcomed back Madagascar to the SADC family following the return to constitutional normalcy and recent democratic elections.

"I think it would be good to address the many challenges ahead, namely those of reconciliation and the socio-economic development of the country. I believe the SADC family should continue to engage with Madagascar in its post conflict phase and especially in its reconstruction process," said President Michel in his intervention.

It should be recalled that President Michel hosted two rounds of mediation talks in Seychelles together with South African President Jacob Zuma, then Chair of the SADC Organ Troika on Peace, Defence and Security, as part of the Roadmap that led to the elections, notably the Desroches Process held in July 2012.

The Seychelles government also seconded Ambassador Claude Morel to Antananarivo as Head of the IOC Liaison Office to support efforts to bring and end to the crisis and realise credible democratic elections.

Referring to the Summit’s theme, the President said that one source of 'vast wealth' for Africa are the oceans and that there is a huge potential for developing the Blue Economy within the infrastructure framework and policy of SADC.

"The ocean is the next frontier that we need to tap for its vast potential....The diversification of our economies lies in the sustainable use of all our ocean resources...However at the heart of the Blue Economy there is sustainability. This will ensure that the natural resources and fragile ecosystems that we depend on will not be depleted and Africa will achieve economic diversity as planned in Agenda 2063."

He added that Seychelles strongly supports the SADC theme for the summit and called on the organisation to ensure it is properly reflected in its programmes and projects.

President Michel reiterated his call for islands of southern Africa to be included in the SADC development programmes, and not be marginalised, similar to the call he also made in Washington recently at the US-Africa Summit.

The President is accompanied at the summit by the secretary of state for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Barry Faure; the Seychelles ambassador to South Africa and permanent representative to SADC, Claude Morel; the secretary general of the Office of the President, Lise Bastienne as well as senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Investment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Office of the President.