By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider 

The South African government is gearing up to host the 9th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Industrialisation Week in conjunction with the SADC Secretariat which will be held at the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC) from the 27th-31 July 2026. 

This event serves as a precursor to the 46th SADC Leader’s Summit which gathers all the heads of state and government in the Southern African district. Industrialisation week is regarded as the region’s leading public-private platform and will aim to deepen regional integration as well as promote investment opportunities in strategic sectors across the member states. 

The theme for this year is; “Resilient, sustainable and Inclusive Industrialisation through infrastructure development, agricultural and Critical Minerals Transformation in Pursuit of a just world”.

The programme is aimed at strengthening the region’s value chain in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and critical minerals beneficiation while simultaneously promoting infrastructure development in energy, transport, logistics, and water.

The summit will also prioritise investment mobilisation, empowering women and young entrepreneurs through innovation, enterprise development and digital transformation. The Industrialisation Week supports the implementation of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap which is centered around industrialisation, competitiveness and regional integration. 

The programme is also set to include policy dialogues, technical sessions, strategic discussions, seminars, workshops and stakeholder engagement which will focus on industrialisation, Trade, investment, infrastructure, energy and regional value chains. 

South Africa remains firm in the pursuit for advancing the regional industrialisation agenda and to strengthen regional cooperation to spearhead economic growth, job creation and industrial development.