There is a need for a strong and mutually beneficial cooperation with partners that share the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) vision of a prosperous, peaceful and stable Region, envisioned in the SADC Vision 2050 and implemented through the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2020-2030), the SADC Executive Secretary, His Excellency Mr Elias Magosi, has underscored.
H.E. Magosi expressed these sentiments in separate discussions with ambassadors and heads of institutions representing their countries and institutions to SADC on 20th and 21st October, 2021. The representatives included H.E. Ahmed Taher Elfadly, Ambassador of Egypt to Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa; H.E Mrs Anne Lammila, Ambassador of Finland to SADC; H.E. Andrey V. Kemarskiy, Ambassador and Special Representative of the Russian Federation to SADC and Dr Manghestab Haile, Regional Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) for Southern Africa.
H.E. Magosi expressed his commitment to work tirelessly with partners, in their various capacities, to deepen existing cooperation and to promote regional integration agenda outlined in the SADC RISDP 2020-2030, which is a 10-year strategic plan covering strategic priority areas of Peace, Security and Good Governance; Industrial Development and Market Integration; Infrastructure Development in Support of Regional Integration; Social and Human Capital Development; Cross-cutting issues including Gender, Youth, Environment and Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Management, among others.
In his discussion with the Egypt Ambassador, H.E. Magosi underscored the need to accelerate Africa's economic integration to facilitate movement of people, goods and services through the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to enhance economic integration and increase intra-African trade. The Ambassador expressed interest in exploring the opportunity of strengthening cooperation with the SADC Region, among others, through the expected Cape to Cairo Road or Pan-African Highway project which is expected to achieve land connectivity and increase trade exchange with African countries.
Speaking after presenting her Letters of Credence, Ambassador and Special Representative of Finland to SADC, H.E. Anne Lammila, said Finland and SADC will explore areas of cooperation in various sectors of mutual interest including areas of renewable and clean energy, education, science, technology and innovation as well as collaboration in addressing issues of climate change, disaster risks, peace and security. Finland is a Member of the European Union which has a long standing development cooperation with SADC.
During the meeting with H.E. Andrey V. Kemarskiy, Ambassador and Special Representative of the Russian Federation to SADC, the two parties recalled and committed to the implementation of the two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of the Russian Federation and SADC in the Area of Military-Technical Cooperation that was signed in July 2018; and the MoU on Basic Principles of Relations and Cooperation that was signed in October 2018.
The meeting between the SADC Executive Secretary and WFP Regional Director Dr Manghestab Haile focused on ensuring food sufficiency and the urgent need to address the effects of climate change, considering that the SADC Region is prone to drought and vulnerable to natural disasters as evidenced by catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis caused by Cyclones Idai and Kenneth in 2019. The two parties underscored the need for the Region to tap into its readily available precious resources and raw materials to feed its population and improve the lives of the citizenry.
