Page 49 - 40th Summit Brochure 2020

❖ Minerals benef ciation tern would result in increased intra-regional
Copper – Despite limited production in cop- trade. However, the SADC region relies
per, there is need to assess the potential heavily on high-worth imports from outside
areas for investment that would maximise the region of various raw products such as
utilisation of the copper feedstock in the re- soybean, rice, wheat and cotton which can
gion to take advantage of the existing sig- be produced in the region. An import sub-
nif cant market for value-added copper stitution programme would, therefore result
products, such as copper wires, tubes and in the upgrading and further development
cables. of the respective regional value chains while
of ering the most promising prospects for
Energy Storage/Battery – T e SADC region inclusive economic growth, job creation and
contains over 50 percent global reserves of poverty reduction in the region. T e lack of
cobalt, which accounts for as much as 60 suf cient regional production also means
percent of the lithium-ion battery weight. that there is limited input into manufactur-
T e current demand for renewables and ing plants, thus negating opportunities for
electric vehicles of er considerable opportu- increased industrial growth.
nity which remains untapped. Opportuni-
ties exist for the production of batteries, as Consolidating the SADC Free Trade Area
well as battery components and other key SADC adopted the Protocol on Trade in
inputs for the value chains. T e develop- Services in 1996 to support the attainment
ment of batteries is particularly attractive of the Free Trade Area (FTA) in 2008. T e
because the region already has mining ac- protocol is modelled on the General Agree-
tivities for many of the key minerals re- ment on Tarif s and Trade (GATT), whose
quired for battery manufacture, as well as overall purpose was to promote interna-
minerals that are undergoing research to as- tional trade by eliminating trade barriers
sess their performance as new battery ma- such as tarif s and quotas.
terials. In the late 1990s, SADC also began to
46 focus on trade in services. Initially the
Mining Inputs – T e SADC operating mines SADC Protocol on Trade conceived the de-
and projects provide a major opportunity velopment of an annex on Trade in Services,
market for the SADC mining and mineral as services were becoming the backbone of
processing inputs sector. In this regard, the global economy and a dynamic compo-
using tonnage of ore produced as a proxy for nent of SADC intra-regional trade due to
inputs demand, SADC of ers a larger mining the contribution to job creation and produc-
inputs market than the European Union and tion from sectors such as transport, commu-
China combined. However, mining capital nication, energy and tourism. Member
goods are dominated by imports, particu- States begun to realise that the World Trade
larly from Europe and increasingly from Organisation model of a separate frame-
China. By value, SADC mining projects (ex- work agreement would be necessary to pro-
coal) were worth about US$100bn in 2013 vide for the progressive liberalisation of
and are dominated by South Africa (48 per- trade in services across the SADC region.
cent) followed by the Democratic Republic Member States agreed to negotiate a stand-
of Congo (14 percent), Namibia (11 per- alone Protocol on Trade in Services mod-
cent) and Zambia (10 percent). T is gives an elled on the GATT 1995. In 2006, SADC
indication of the future regional market de- began with negotiations of a Protocol on
mand for mining inputs. Trade in Services, which was concluded in
2009 and signed in 2012. T e Protocol pro-
❖ Agro-processing vides for successive rounds of liberalisation
Intra-SADC trade has not adequately in- negotiations, under which Member States
creased in recent year, and a main contribut- agree to bind themselves to national com-
ing factor is the lack of diversif ed and mitments guaranteeing levels of market ac-
value-added export products. T e region’s cess and national treatment.
economic linkages to the world are charac- T e 1st Round prioritised negotiations
terised by the export of raw and un- in six sectors – communication, construc-
processed products and the importat of f nal tion, energy, f nancial, tourism and trans-
goods for consumption. A shif of this pat- port services. T e negotiations were