ABSTRACT
Firms seek to maximise profits, a decision rule that is stringently imposed by the dynamics of capitalist competition. Hence, industrial location matters in the competitiveness of industries. Given the significance of location in the competitiveness of industries and the investment decisions of firms, this chapter aims to enhance the understanding of the influence of location on the competitiveness of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) industries. While globalisation and the accompanying technological progress have inspired the thinking that industrial location and geography do not matter in contemporary times, practical evidence suggests otherwise. For instance, the significance of industrial location has been prevalent in the variations of economic and development performances of countries and regions, the geographic concentration of leading firms or industries within nations or regions, and the location decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Despite an apparent shift in the paradigms on which the principles of industrial location are grounded, it is acknowledged in this chapter that each location may uniquely possess something that it can offer relatively competitively. The locational factors influencing the competitiveness of SADC industries were identified as being land-locked/sea-locked, resources, human capital, infrastructure, technology, economic and political stability, market-related factors, agglomeration, and regional integration. Part of the recommendations of this chapter is that the SADC regional grouping must strive to create a productivity-enhancing regional system and technology-based ecological ambition that can support the transition to a new path of development centred on enhancing regional competitiveness.
