The Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), His Excellency Mr Elias M. Magosi on the 21st September, 2021 paid a courtesy call on H.E. Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi and Chairperson of SADC to discuss issues aimed at deepening SADC region integration, cooperation and development.
During the meeting, the SADC Chairperson and Executive Secretary committed to take a pragmatic approach to ensure that the SADC region becomes a beacon of shared prosperity through accelerated implementation of the priorities outlined in the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030 and the Vision 2050.
The SADC Chairperson, H.E. Dr Chakwera said he was convinced that the SADC region has all it takes to be a model of shared prosperity in Africa, owing to its vast untapped natural resources, a youthful and large population of over 350 million people and an enviable record of relative peace and security, despite isolated cases of instability in some parts of the Region.
He said with the lessons learnt from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly on vaccine inequality and Africa’s limited access to vaccines, it has become evident that the SADC region and Africa as a whole, need to enhance manufacturing and industrial capacities. On this point, H.E. Dr Chakwera said this year’s SADC Summit theme, Bolstering Productive Capacities in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Inclusive, Sustainable, Economic and Industrial Transformation, is a response and clarion call for the SADC region to embrace digitisation to industrialise using comparative advantage of Member States on value chains and ultimately, increase the level of SADC intra-regional trade.
On peace and security, which is a foundation for achieving regional integration and sustainable socio-economic development, the SADC Chairperson pledged to work closely with the Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa to ensure continued peace and stability in the region.
On his part, H.E. Magosi thanked the SADC Chairperson for granting him the opportunity to discuss matters of regional importance which, he said, underscores the value the President attaches to the SADC Regional Integration agenda.
H.E. Magosi said for SADC to realise the benefits of regional integration, Member States need to sign and ratify relevant protocols and agreements. On this note, H.E. Magosi informed the SADC Chairperson that the Secretariat will continue to support and facilitate Member States on the signing and ratification of SADC protocols and agreements so that all Member States effectively contribute and benefit from the regional integration and development initiatives.
The SADC Executive Secretary took the opportunity to thank the Republic of Malawi for being one of the nine Member States that have signed the Agreement establishing the SADC Regional Development Fund, a regional financing mechanism for economic development and sustainable growth which aims to finance regional infrastructure, industrial and social developments.
The Executive Secretary informed the SADC Chairperson that the Secretariat, under his stewardship will not lose focus of the main goal of SADC, which is regional integration. He therefore committed to actively engage SADC Member States, International Cooperating Partners and other stakeholders to achieve the objectives of the RISDP 2020-2030 and Vision 2050.
The RISDP 2020-2030 is a regional blue print which, amongst others, prioritises regional integration issues of infrastructure development, industrial development and market integration, social and human capital development and other cross cutting issues including environment, climate change, disaster risk management, gender and youth empowerment. The SADC Vision 2050 envisions a peaceful, inclusive, competitive, middle-to-high income industrialised region, where all citizens enjoy sustainable economic well-being, justice and freedom.
Earlier before the meeting with the SADC Chairperson, H.E. Magosi held discussions with the Chairperson of SADC Council of Ministers, Hon. Eisenhower Nduwa Mkaka, MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Malawi who was accompanied by Dr Luckie Sikwese, Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Chairperson of the Standing Committee of Senior Officials.
The visit to Malawi by the SADC Executive Secretary, H.E. Magosi was the first official visit to a SADC Member State since assuming his office on 1st September, 2021, following his appointment at the 41st SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Lilongwe, Malawi from 17-18 August, 2021. H.E. Magosi was accompanied by the Director of Policy Planning and Resource Mobilisation at the SADC Secretariat, Dr Mubita Luwabelwa and other officials from the Secretariat.
