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Zambia and Zimbabwe hold an experts meeting on the establishment and management of a common agro-industrial park

11 August, 2022
Zambia and Zimbabwe hold an experts meeting on the establishment and management of a common agro-industrial park

Harare, Zimbabwe, 11 August 2022 – Zimbabwe and Zambia held an ad-hoc expert group meeting (AEGM) on the draft policy, legal, regulatory and institutional framework for a Common Agro-Industrial Park (CAIP) and on the assessment study report on maize and dairy value chains in the two countries at Rainbow Towers in Harare. The deliberations took place over two days of intense dialogue and consensus building.

The AEGM was organised through the collaboration of Ministries of Industry and Commerce of Zambia and Zimbabwe, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretariat. The objective of the AEGM on the CAIP was to review and validate the draft policy, legal, regulatory and institutional framework to specifically assess its appropriateness for the development and sustainability of the park.

The assessment of the report on maize and dairy value chains in Zambia and Zimbabwe sought to review the findings and recommendations from draft report and provide recommendations for the advancement of the development of the two value chains in and between the two countries. The maize and dairy value chains are among the nine identified in the pre-feasibility study as anchors of the CAIP and are among the identified strategic value chains in both COMESA and SADC regions. The validated policy, legal, regulatory and institutional framework and the report on the assessment of the maize and dairy value chains will both be finalized taking into account the observations and recommendations of the AEGM.

The CAIP is being implemented under the Joint Industrialisation Cooperation framework between Zambia and Zimbabwe under Article 99 of the COMESA Treaty which seeks to promote development by encouraging Member States to collaborate in industrial development and transformation. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the two countries in 2021 provides a firm foundation for the growth of the CAIP as a medium for strengthening economic and structural transformation in the two countries.

Guest of honour at the expert meeting, Ms. Florence Makombe, the Chief Director, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Zimbabwe, underscored the importance of enhanced value chains integration between Zambia and Zimbabwe and in the rest of the region in light of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement which has opened up liberalised trading opportunities for value-added products beyond SADC and COMESA.

“The MOU signed between our two governments enabled us to to design a roadmap and plan of action for sustained and balanced growth and structural transformation,” said Ms. Makombe.

She further indicated that: “The proposed CAIP presents glorious opportunities for Zambia and Zimbabwe as a driver of industrial development. The benefits of cooperation include the achievement of economies of scale, rural industrialization and transformation resulting in job creation and better livelihoods for citizens, among others.”

“In this regard, a harmonized policy, legal, regulatory and institutional framework is a positive step towards achieving our set goals. This also lends credence to the fact that creating and enhancing an enabling business environment is critical for fostering international competitiveness and building capacity in order to expand and access both domestic and international markets,” Ms. Makombe added.

Other speakers during the opening session of the AEGM included Ms. Olayinka Bandele, Chief, Inclusive Industrialisation Section, representing the Director of ECA Sub regional Office for Southern Africa, Ms. Eunice Kamwendo, Mr. Joseph Mpunga, Senior Investment Promotion Officer, representing the COMESA Secretary General, Ms. Chileshe Kapwepwe Directorate of Industry and Agriculture, COMESA Secretariat and Mr. Sunday Chikoti, Director, Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Zambia.

Mr. Chikoti alluded to the similarity of the similar policy, legal and regulatory frameworks in place to promote value chain development and linkages between industries in the two countries. He underscored that the CAIP would lead to sustainable economic growth.

“The policy resonates in its capacity to promote the diversification of production; facilitate the creation of inter-sectoral and inter-industry linkages; promote the establishment of cooperatives across value chains; promote the development of industry skills and facilitate the shifting of economic activity towards higher value-added activities, to spur sustainable economic growth”, said Mr. Chikoti.

Ms. Bandele emphasised: “that the growing development needs, especially towards development goals - SDG 1 (poverty reduction); hunger (SDG 2); inequalities (SDG 5 and 10) and decent jobs and economic growth (SDG 8), massive economic transformative shifts are imperative, and agro-processing, supply and production chains and linkages provide strong levers for such, especially the promise for improved supply chains and food security in the two countries and the Southern African Region as a whole.”

Mr. Mpunga alluded to the long history of bilateral cooperation between Zambia and Zimbabwe and emphasised that the CAIP would lead to transformation and industrial growth. “This CAIP initiative is anchored on the need to promote industrialization in the two Southern African countries through collaboration and aims to increase the availability of industrial goods and services for the bilateral market among themselves, develop appropriate skills and knowledge in industries and strengthen collaboration, as well as bolstering networking among policymakers, regulators, industry and academia," said Mr. Mpunga.

He further advised that “The cooperation programme has a long-term vision to bolster the cotton, wheat, rice, soya beans, sugar, livestock (leather and dairy) and horticulture value chains.”

The ECA Consultant, Mr. Rongai Chizema, while presenting the findings and recommendations of the pre-feasibility study on the common agro-industrial park, highlighted the focus value chains, lessons to be learnt from other countries, the existing operating conditions in the two countries amenable to the creation of the park and the possible sources of finance for park activities.

“A harmonized policy, legal, regulatory and institutional framework facilitates the smooth movement of factors across national boundaries and thus creates conditions supportive of cross border value chains”, observed the ECA Consultant, Mr. Wisdom Kaleng’a.

Speaking when she presented an overview of the dairy value chains in Zambia and Zimbabwe, ECA Consultant, Dr. Mary Lubunga, said that given the current marketing and production cost in Zambia, gross margin of smallholder producers is of ZMW 263 per animal translating into 15% of the total production costs. She added that in Zimbabwe, small-scale milk producers operate at a loss, with profit margins averaging 16% and profitability in the medium and large-scale dairy farming categories averages 23% enhanced by economies of scale and vertical integration initiatives.

Experts concurred on the importance of linkages in the maize and dairy value chains and underscored the need for consistency and alignment policy, legal and institutional frameworks to anchor value chains development. 

“There is need for policy consistency and alignment of existing policy, legal and institutional frameworks with the new AfCFTA reality.” said Dr. Kingstone Mujeyi, the ECA Consultant.

On his part, Dr. Medhat El-Helepi, Economic Affairs Officer in ECA's Agriculture and Business Enabling Environment Section (ABEE) emphasised that promoting regional value chains requires an appropriate enabling environment, strengthening markets at the continental and regional levels, and the promotion of regional production and processing belts based on comparative and competitive advantages.

The AEGM was attended by representatives from the two governments, drawn mainly from the Ministries responsible for Industry and Commerce, and Agriculture, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, micro small and medium enterprises representatives, academia and women business organizations, COMESA, ECA and the United Nations family in Zimbabwe.

Issued by:
The Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa
UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
P.O. Box 30647, Lusaka, Zambia.

Media Contacts:

Mr. Bedson Nyoni
Senior Information Management Assistant
Economic Commission for Africa Office for Southern Africa (ECA-SA)
Email: nyonib@un.org

Ms. Yvonne Gundu
Deputy Director - Communications & Advocacy
Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Zimbabwe
Email: ygundu@yahoo.co.uk