ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the Southern Africa Development Community countries (SADC) countries are changing, and with this change will come competition: competition for its resources, its votes in multilateral institutions, and possibly even competition for its markets. The mineral and metal distribution of SADC is extraordinary, with some of the worlds largest deposits of important industrial minerals and metals occurring within its boundaries. While investment in primary sector projects in SADC can provide an initial inflow of capital in a global environment where lending institutions are increasingly reluctant to enter into high risk projects, the developmental challenge is to take the next step of developing the secondary and tertiary sectors. The nature of the SADC market is also interesting for Japan. Japan’s faith in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as a means of regulating and controlling global trade is endearing, but for all intents and purposes, the WTO is in crisis.
