During the 5th SADC Industrialisation Week, the Executive Secretary of SADC, H.E. Elias M. Magosi, visited the stalls of 2 Malawian grantees out of 14 supported in the SADC region by the Joint Action “Support towards Industrialization and the Productive Sectors in the SADC region” (SIPS). Through the grants implemented by GIZ, the 2 companies are exhibiting their high-quality and affordable COVID-19-relevant medical and pharmaceutical products. EthCo received 73,183 € as a grant to scale up the production of hands sanitizers. iMoSyS received 100,000 € to manufacture face shields. The grants were awarded because the Joint Action SIPS aims to scale up the manufacturing of high-quality and affordable COVID-19-relevant medical and pharmaceutical products. The expected impact is to increase regional production capacity, boost regional competitive advantage, strengthen regional value chains and reduce dependence on imports.

The Joint Action SIPS is co-funded by the European Union in Botswana and the Bundesministerium fur wirtschaftliche Zusammernarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) and managed by the SACD Secretariat. The Joint Action SIPS aims to improve the performance and growth of the regional medical, pharmaceutical and leather value chains.