By Jacobs Botha
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on member states of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) to transform the 116-year-old regional bloc into a centre for industrial development, arguing that closer economic integration is essential to protect Southern Africa from growing global economic uncertainty.
Speaking at the opening of the ninth SACU Summit of Heads of State and Government in Cape Town on Friday, Ramaphosa said the customs union should evolve beyond its traditional role of collecting and sharing customs revenue to become a platform for regional manufacturing, infrastructure development and economic resilience.
“The global economy is being reshaped before our eyes,” Ramaphosa told leaders gathered at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. “It is time to move away from the traditional role of SACU as a customs arrangement and towards being the premier platform for regional economic resilience and self-reliance.”
SACU, comprising Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa, is the world’s oldest customs union and remains one of Africa’s most established regional economic organisations.
Ramaphosa said member states should take advantage of their complementary economic strengths to build regional value chains capable of competing globally. He highlighted Eswatini’s manufacturing sector, Lesotho’s textile industry, Namibia’s green hydrogen and uranium processing potential, Botswana’s diamond beneficiation expertise and South Africa’s automotive and steel industries as strategic assets that could support regional industrialisation.
“Industrialisation is the only durable path from commodity dependence to an economy capable of sustaining our growing populations,” he said.
The South African leader also urged member countries to accelerate investment in cross-border infrastructure, including transport networks, energy systems and logistics corridors, describing such projects as critical to regional economic integration.
He cited the proposed Trans-Kalahari Railway linking Botswana and Namibia, the long-running Lesotho Highlands Water Project between Lesotho and South Africa, and regional energy interconnections involving Eswatini as examples of collaborative infrastructure initiatives that could strengthen economic growth.
Ramaphosa said Africa’s vast mineral wealth presents an opportunity for the region to move beyond exporting raw materials by developing domestic processing industries and regional value chains.
“The continent has everything the world needs for the next century of human development,” he said, urging African countries to expand mineral beneficiation and manufacturing rather than remaining suppliers of unprocessed resources.
According to the South African president, the SACU region is projected to record economic growth of about 2.64% in 2026 and 2.1% in 2027 despite increasing global economic uncertainty.
He called on member states to use the summit to chart a new direction for the customs union, saying its future should be measured by its ability to create industries, generate jobs and improve regional competitiveness.
Established in 1910, SACU has historically focused on customs administration and revenue sharing. However, leaders have increasingly sought to expand its role in promoting industrial development, trade integration and economic diversification across Southern Africa.
