SADC in critical need of vocational skills

Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states have been urged to revive vocational training amid reports that preference for white-collar jobs by many of the region's youth was denying it practical skills that can support integration through industrialisation.Dr Johansein Rutaihwa, a senior programme officer in the areas of industrialisation and competitiveness at the SADC Secretariat, made the call at the 43rd Plenary Assembly Session of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, which took place in the Angolan capital of Luanda last week.Rutaihwa was the key speaker during a symposium organised to discuss the role of parliamentarians in deepening SADC economic integration through industrialisation.He said there was a disturbing phenomenon within the SADC region which sees some member states appearing bent on outdoing each other in transforming their colleges and vocational training centres into degree-awarding universities.“We have turned all the colleges into universities. We no longer get technicians. Now everyone is a graduate and wants to sit in an office to make decisions. No one can (unscrew) a nut. No one can fix anything in the mill. We need to go back to where we have come from and promote our technical and vocational centres,” he said to applause.Rutaihwa argued there is a disconnect between what the region's universities were churning out and what industries needed in term of human resources. “We need to revamp the whole system and find out where we messed it up,” he told the audience, which included MPs and speakers of parliament from 12 of the 14 SADC Parliamentary Forum member states.Turning to industrialisation in the SADC region, he explained that the Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2015-2063) was approved by the SADC Summit in April 2015. In March 2016, the SADC Council on Ministers approved an action plan to support its implementation.He provided an economic overview, covering the period 2016 to 2018 and said real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remained subdued at a growth rate of a 1.9 percent in 2017, compared to 1.4 percent in 2016.“Only the United Republic of Tanzania recorded real GDP growth rates above the regional target of 7%,” he said. “All member states except for the DRC recorded positive growth in per capita GDP in 2017, an improvement from only five member states (Botswana, DRC, Mauritius, Seychelles and Tanzania), recording positive growth in 2016.”The inflation rate had generally slowed in the SADC region but remained high in some member states, where double digits still prevailed. He attributed price fluctuations in some member states to weather-related factors and weak exchange rates.The manufacturing sector, touted as the engine of growth towards industrialisation, grew by 2.6 percent in 2016 compared to 1.5 percent the previous year. Under this sector, significant growth rates had been recorded by Angola (6.9%), DRC (8.6%) and Tanzania (7.8%) in 2016. Seychelles registered a decline in this sector of 1.3% during the same period.“The share of the manufacturing sector to overall GDP in the SADC region has been steadily declining since 2007 from 13.6% and reached its lowest point of 10.6% in 2013,” he said.With respect to ease of doing business, Rutaihwa said over half of SADC member states had fallen in the rankings, while some showed signs of steady improvement. In terms of implementation, Rutaihwa informed the MPs that a Directorate of Industrial Development and Trade had been established at the SADC Secretariat to coordinate implementation. “The action plan… has been rolled out in eight member states and assistance in determining the national indicative public coordination costs was provided to seven member states.”Development of a SADC Protocol on Industry to provide a legal framework for cooperation on industrial development among SADC Member States had begun while a Regional Mining vision was in place.Rutaihwa said profiling of the region's pharmaceutical and mineral sectors was done during the 2015/16 financial year and value chains with potential for development were identified. “Operationalisation of the SADC Pooled Procurement Strategy (SPPS) has begun by setting up the SADC Data Base on Essential Medicines, and the Republic of Tanzania has been nominated to host it,” he revealed. With respect to monitoring SADC protocols, Rutaihwa said an online monitoring and evaluation system had been developed to facilitate compliance and results monitoring. A study to develop a private sector engagement mechanism (PSEM) had been undertaken. Moses Magadza

SADC in critical need of vocational skills

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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SADC in critical need of vocational skills

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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