39th SADC Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania

The 39th Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and preceding meetings will take place in Dar es Salaam, in the United Republic of Tanzania from the 5th to the 18th of August, 2019.

The SADC Summit is responsible for the overall policy direction and control of functions of the community, ultimately making it the policy-making institution of SADC. The SADC Summit is made up of all SADC Heads of States or Government and is managed on a Troika system that comprises the current SADC Chairperson, the incoming Chairperson and the immediate previous Chairperson. The ordinary SADC summit usually meets once a year around August or September in a Member State of the incoming SADC Chairperson.

The current SADC troika comprises of H.E President Dr Hage G. Geingob, of Namibia as the Chairperson of SADC; his predecessor H.E.  President Cyril Ramaphosa, of South Africa as the outgoing Chairperson and H.E. President Dr John Joseph Magufuli of the United Republic of Tanzania as the incoming Chairperson.

The troika for the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation comprises of H.E. President Edgar Chagwa Lungu of Zambia as Chairperson of the Organ; his predecessor H.E. President João Lourenço, of Angola and H.E. President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe as the incoming Chairperson of the Organ.

The United Republic of Tanzania last hosted the SADC Summit 16 years ago, in 2003, under the Chairpersonship of former President Benjamin Mkapa. The ordinary SADC Summit will be preceded by a series of meeting and events, namely, the meeting of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials; the SADC Finance subcommittee; SADC Council of Ministers Meeting; as well as the Double Troika Senior Officials, and Ministerial Council of the Organ and Double Troika Summit.

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