Durban – The 9th Annual Southern African Development Community (SADC) Industrialisation Week (SIW) got underway today, 27 July 2026, at the Durban International Convention Centre in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, drawing stakeholders from across the region and beyond to push forward industrialisation, investment and regional economic transformation.
The five day gathering runs from 27 to 31 July 2026 and is being hosted by the SADC Secretariat together with the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the SADC Business Council. It is being held under the theme, “Resilient, Sustainable and Inclusive Industrialisation through Infrastructure Development, Agricultural and Critical Minerals Transformation in Pursuit of a Just World.”
The opening ceremony featured a keynote address by the Honourable Parks Tau, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition of the Republic of South Africa, who declared the SIW open. Also in attendance were His Excellency Mr. Elias Magosi, the SADC Executive Secretary, alongside ministers, senior government officials, business leaders, investors, development finance institutions, academics and other stakeholders. 
Over the course of the week, participants will take part in high level policy dialogues, technical sessions, workshops and stakeholder engagements centred on strengthening regional value chains, infrastructure development, investment mobilisation, critical minerals beneficiation, agro processing, pharmaceuticals, digital transformation, innovation and the empowerment of women and youth.
The event functions as a platform for driving the implementation of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2015 to 2063), which positions industrialisation, competitiveness and regional integration at the heart of the bloc’s development agenda. Eswatini, as a member state of the 16 nation community, is among the countries with a direct stake in the outcomes of the deliberations.
Through closer collaboration among governments, the private sector, development partners and other stakeholders, organisers say the week aims to pinpoint practical and actionable solutions that promote resilient, inclusive and sustainable industrial growth, create jobs, boost regional competitiveness and advance shared prosperity across Southern Africa.
