Deputy Speaker, our starting point is to reaffirm that the ANC - since its formation, has been a Pan-African organisation, committed to the unity, liberation and prosperity of the African continent. Since 1994, our government under the ANC has and continues with its commitment to the renaissance of Africa which includes economic integration.

A question was put to the rest of Africa in 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by President Kwame Nkrumah when he asked:

How else will we retain our own capital for own development? How else will we establish an internal market for our own industries? By belonging to different economic zones, how will we break down the currency and trading barriers between African states, and how will the economically stronger amongst us be able to assist the weaker and less developed states?

For many years, people of Africa through the then Organisation of African Unity - the OAU, and now African Union - the AU, developed measures and initiatives to respond to the questions posed by President Nkrumah. In 1991, the peoples of Africa represented by their leaders in Abuja, Nigeria, agreed on what is known as the Abuja Treaty to establish for themselves an African Economic Community.

The Abuja Treaty agreed on the following principles: To promote economic, social and cultural development and the

integration of African economies in order to increase economic self- reliance and promote an endogenous and self-sustained development; to establish - on a continental scale, a framework for the development, mobilisation and utilisation of the human and material resources of Africa in order to achieve a self-reliant development; to promote co-operation in all fields of human endeavour in order to raise the standard of living of African peoples and maintain and enhance economic stability, foster close and peaceful relations among member states and contribute to the progress, development and the economic integration of the continent; and to co- ordinate and harmonise policies among existing and future economic communities in order to foster the gradual establishment of the community.

Fast forward to 2015, the African Union adopted the AU Agenda 2063, which outlines that by 2063, African countries will be amongst the best performers in global quality of life measures. This will be attained through strategies of inclusive growth, job creation, increasing agricultural production, investments in science, technology, research and innovation, gender equality,

youth empowerment and the provision of basic services including health, nutrition, education, shelter, water and sanitation.

The AU Agenda 2063 is the continent's strategic framework for its socioeconomic transformation over the next 50 years. The agenda is about us Africans building the Africa we want. The AU Agenda 2063 seeks to place the continent on a developmental path towards the realisation of the African Union's vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in international arena.

Our foreign policy as the ANC is premised on the Freedom Charter that states, "There shall be peace and friendship." Building from this, the principles of our foreign policy, which has been advanced by the ANC-led government since 1994 is of the belief that our foreign policy should reflect the interests of the continent of Africa, and that South Africa's economic development depends on growing regional and international economic co-operation in an independent world.

In this debate, we reiterate that the economic growth of South Africa is interconnected and interdependent with that of the Southern African Development Community, SADC, region, in particular, Africa in general. On this point, South Africa is part of SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-16, consistent with the objectives of the AU Agenda 2063. The SADC strategy was developed as an inclusive long-term modernisation and economic transformation scheme. This strategy will assist in advancing our agenda with identified sectors for growth such as the automotive sector, agro-processing, textile, leather and footwear, chemicals and plastics, just to mention but the few.

As part of the economic integration of Africa, South Africa has signed the Africa Continental Free Trade Area which brings together 54 African countries with a combined gross domestic product of more than US$3,4 trillion. This is truly a massive market. Africa's collective GDP is estimated at US$2,6 trillion.

This signifies a massive potential for African economic growth. However, the challenge is that the intra-Africa

trade is low at 16,6%. This means that Africa's trade curve is "outward" to overseas countries. We appreciate the reality that global economies are interlinked and interdependent, but the growth of African economies can only be accelerated if intra-Africa trade is encouraged.