By JAMES KUNDA –

ZAMBIA has called for deeper economic integration in the quest to foster national growth in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary in charge of economic management and finance Felix Nkulukusa said regional value chains and local participation were vital to the growth of economies in the SADC.
Mr Nkulukusa made the remarks during the United Nations (UN) organised Adhoc Expert Group Meeting (AEGP) in Livingstone.
“Despite the abundant arable land, water, forestry, wildlife and minerals,  the region has failed to address intractable poverty throughout the region,” he said.
Mr Nkulukusa said Africa’s economic transformation was dependent on the exploitation of natural resources which have accelerated the continents’ recovery from economic crisis.
“It is not debatable that the exploitation of these vast natural resources has been at the centre of Africa’s accelerated recovery from the adverse effects of the financial and economic crisis of 2008,” he said.
Mr Nkulukusa bemoaned the growing inequity amidst reported economic growth citing co-efficient in stable economies of the region including Namibia, South Africa and Botswana.
He said the high economic growth rate amidst poverty and inequality is unacceptable an unsustainable, hence the need for value addition to the natural endowment in this region.
UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) director Said Adejumobi said that regional development was a product of concerted efforts and ingenuity by member states.
Mr Adejumobi said Africa would have to think differently not only to develop, but also in running to catch up with the rest of the world.
“The efficient exploitation and efficient management of natural resources will be a key to Africa’s development and the realisation of vision 2063,” he said.
He said the meeting whose theme is ‘Making Natural Resources work for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development’, has come at the backdrop of renewed confidence about the fate and future of the continent.
“With a stable GDP growth rate for over a decade, Africa is back in the global storyline as possibly the new pole of the global economic growth” he said.
Mr Adejumobi said although Africa’s growth rate has not been phenomenal, it comes against a background of a failing global economy, as such, Africa was a good story to tell.
“The question then is how does Africa maintain the momentum of its growth and achieve the structural transformation of its economies? Africa’s natural resources are central to unlocking the continents sustained economic growth and development,” he said.