The Sixth and first Female Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), H.E Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, whose tenure of office is coming to an end on 31 August 2021, highlights some of the major achievements and challenges that SADC has experienced during her tenure as the Executive Secretary in this question and answer interview. Dr Tax also, sheds light on what opportunities exist in the SADC Region, what can be done to fully exploit the opportunities, and what the Secretariat has been doing to market the opportunities.
What are some of the major achievements and challenges that SADC has experienced during your tenure as the Executive Secretary?
The achievements realized during my tenure are many and varied. Some are quantifiable and others are not, while some are visible and others are not visible. It is also important to note that the achievements recorded during the eight years of my tenure in office are a result of collective efforts and teamwork involving the SADC Member States and the Secretariat Staff, with support from the private sector and regional and international partners. Highlights of the key achievements during my tenure include the following:
Consolidation of Democracy, and Sustaining of Peace and Security. The SADC region remains stable and peaceful, notwithstanding isolated challenges. Tis is attributed to solid systems and measures in place, such as our regional early warning, preventive and mediation mechanisms which facilitate timely detection and redress of threats and challenges, and effective deployment of SADC electoral observation missions. Examples during my tenure include the SADC preventive mission to the Kingdom of Lesotho, SADC peace and political support to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), SADC mediation in Madagascar, and SADC facilitation in Lesotho. These measures addressed challenges that emerged, and enabled the respective Member States and the region to restore stability, peace and security. Democracy was consolidated through effective deployment of electoral observation missions to SADC Member States. To mitigate and address threats posed by cybercrime and terrorism, a cybercrime and anti-terrorism strategy was adopted in 2016. The strategy is being implemented at regional and national levels.
Documenting Southern African Liberation Struggle History through the Hashim Mbita Publication. To preserve the recent history of Southern Africa and generate awareness about African Liberation, SADC published the series of books resulting from the Hashim Mbita Project on Southern African Liberation Struggles, an extensive publication of nine volumes that was launched in August 2014. The publication enables the people of the region, and especially the youth, to understand and appreciate the shared history of Southern Africa’s liberation, thus advancing social cohesion and regional identity. This was first published in its original languages and has now been fully translated into the SADC official languages. The SADC Council of Ministers has taken the decision that Southern African Liberation History should be included in the school syllabus and requested Ministers of Education to operationalize the decision.
Frontloading of Industrialization to Accelerate Socio-Economic and Technological Transformation. The SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063 was approved in 2015 by the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe. The decision to frontload industrialization was taken because the previous efforts to increase intra-regional trade were hampered by the limited capacity in Member States to produce goods that can be traded equitably within the region, and competitively within and outside the region. The Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap therefore seeks to facilitate a major economic and technological transformation at national and regional levels, through beneficiation and value addition to the Region’s diverse resources, within the context of deeper regional integration. Since the adoption of this strategy, industrialization has remained the major focus of SADC economic integration. By addressing the supply-side constraints as part of the implementation of the SADC industrialization strategy, cross-border trade continues to grow and the business environment has been improving, whereby the cost of doing business has been declining steadily and gradually, through the implementation of both hard and soft infrastructures. Value chains have been profiled, specifically in three priority sectors of mineral beneficiation, pharmaceuticals and agro-processing, and a number of value chains have been developed and are being implemented.
Improvement of SADC Intra-Region Trade. While, intra-SADC trade rose from 16.3 percent in 2008 to 21.6 percent in 2016 following the establishment of the Free Trade Area (FTA), it slowed down to 20 percent in 2017 and to 19.3 percent in 2018. With the Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063, it is expected that the supply-side constraints will be addressed effectively and timeously, and such capacities to produce and trade equitably, as well as competitiveness will be strengthened to facilitate intra-SADC trade. With all the measures put in place, and the benefits of the SADC FTA, non-tariff barriers remain a challenge that requires commitment by Member States.
Customs and Trade Facilitation. The SADC Trade Facilitation Programme was developed and approved by the Ministerial Task Force on Regional Economic Integration in March 2016. The Programme is intended to enhance the intra- and extra-SADC trade. The SADC Regional Customs Transit Guarantee was also revised and will be submitted to the Committee of Ministers of Trade for adoption. The customs transit facility is to facilitate the goods in transit by using a single recognized guarantee.
Enhancement of Trade Infrastructure. The SADC Simplified Trade Regime Framework and SADC Regional Customs Transit Guarantee Regulations aimed at facilitating intra- and extra-SADC Trade were finalized in 2020 and the roll-out of these instruments is expected to start in 2021 after consideration and endorsement by Ministers responsible for Trade in SADC. The SADC E-Certificate of Origin (eCoO) Framework was developed and approved during the review period. The E-certificate will help to facilitate the application of the Certificate of Origin electronically, thus easing cross-border trade. The Framework will soon be piloted in six Member States — Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Namibia, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. The launch of eCoO transmission is scheduled for September 2021.
Infrastructure Development.In its pursuit to industrialize and accelerate regional integration, SADC has prioritized infrastructure development, and a number of infrastructure projects have been, and continue to be, implemented in energy, transport, information communication technologies, meteorology, trans-boundary water resources and tourism (trans-frontier conservation areas). The targets for infrastructure are set in the SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan (RIDMP) approved in 2012 that aims at attaining assimilated, cost-effective, unified and efficient transnational infrastructure networks and services to serve as the enablers of regional integration and economic development. The projects that have been implemented and are ongoing include:
One-Stop Border Posts at Chirundu Border between Zambia and Zimbabwe; Nakonde-Tunduma Border between United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia; and Kazungula Border between Botswana and Zambia, where the road-rail bridge was commissioned in May 2021.
Cross-border Transmission Links using optical fibre technology allow landlocked Member States such as Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe to connect to the submarine cables on either or both the east and west coasts of Africa. Five Member States (Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, South Africa and United Republic of Tanzania) have achieved the 2025 SADC Broadband Target to cover 80 percent of their population with broadband services and Regional Broadband interconnectivity as a critical technology in addressing and recovery from natural disasters and pandemics. National Broadband Plans or Strategies have been established by eight Member States — Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and United Republic of Tanzania.
Installation and Commissioning of more than 18300 Megawatts (MW) between 2014 and 2020 to meet the increasing power demand in the Region. The Zambia-Tanzania Interconnector is at construction phase to connect the remaining three mainland Member States of Angola, Malawi, and United Republic of Tanzania to the regional power pool managed by the Southern African Power Pool.
Financial and Monetary Integration
The Financial Inclusion and SME Access to Finance Strategy and Implementation Strategy approved in 2018 has enhanced financial inclusion in SADC Member States. A total of 10 Member States have developed either financial inclusion strategies or a national roadmap on financial inclusion, and there has been an 8 percent improvement in financial inclusion among adults in the Region, which stands at 68 percent.
The SADC Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) multi-currency platform went live in October 2018 to facilitate faster and more effective payment transactions in the region. All Member States, except Comoros, the newest SADC Member State, are participating in the SADC-RTGS and a total of 84 banks are participating in the system. The SADC-RTGS has enabled Member States to settle payments among themselves in real time compared to previously when it used to take several days for banks to process cross-border transactions.
Investment Cooperation and Promotion. SADC continues to implement the Regional Action Programme on Investment (RAPI) to attract sustainable investment in the region.
Policies and Frameworks for attracting and promotion of domestic investment and FDI have been developed and harmonized, including the SADC Bilateral Investment Model Template and the SADC Investment Policy Framework (IPF) which was adopted in October 2019 by the joint Investment Subcommittee and TNF Services and recommended for approval by the MTF. The policy guides Member States in the development of their National Action Programme for Investment (NAPI) in order to improve the business and investment climate. Botswana, Malawi and Zambia have developed their NAPI, and work is ongoing in Madagascar.
The SADC Business and Investment Promotion Strategy was adopted in October 2019 by the Investment Subcommittee and recommended for approval by the MTF. The Strategy allows SADC as a regional body to explore opportunities to showcase its programmes and regional projects around the world.
A SADC Investment Portal that is linked to Member States’ investment portals was developed in 2018. The portal facilitates the sharing of information among Member States, and access to information by investors.
Collaborative Initiatives focusing on capacity-building, knowledge-sharing and regional-benchmarking initiatives are in place, including peer-to-peer learning that are organized every year to allow Member States to share their experiences in facilitation and promotion of investment.
Food Security and Management of Natural Resources. The progress of work since August 2013 in the area of agriculture, food security, natural resources, environment and tourism, focused initially on, The Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP) development and approval in 2014 as an overarching regional policy framework (the SADC Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Compact) that guides agriculture sector development; and
The Regional Agricultural Investment Plan (RAIP) 2017-2022 development and approval in April 2017. The RAIP outlines priority programmes and sub-programmes, identified from the RAP Results Framework, where investments in the agriculture sector need to be focused. For the 3-year period that the RAIP has been operational, 2017-2020, progress has been achieved in operationalizing of 88 percent of the 25 key result areas while implementation of activities is underway to achieve 70 percent of the 55 intermediate outcomes.
Agricultural Production, Productivity and Competitiveness
The Crop Production Development Programme was approved in 2019 to improve production, productivity and competitiveness, and regional and international trade of crop products, as per the RAP, and addresses six mutually reinforcing components.
The SADC Harmonized Seed Regulatory System (HSRS), approved in 2008, entered into force in 2014, as part of regional efforts to boost agriculture by promoting the use of high and known quality seeds. Access to quality seeds facilitates diversity to food resource diversification, and prevention of genetic erosion in rural agriculture. The region has approved, since 2014 to date, 84 crop varieties to be registered and released through the SADC Harmonized Seed Regulatory System (HSRS), and eligible to be produced and traded throughout the region. These include maize, wheat, beans, groundnuts, sorghum and soya beans. To support the implementation of the SADC HSRS, the Regional Guidelines for Seed Certification and Quality Assurance, and the SADC Seed Sustainability Strategy, were approved in 2019.
The SADC Guidelines for Pesticides Management were approved in 2019 to facilitate an increase in the use of pesticides to improve crop production and productivity in the region, and to ensure the proper use of pesticides.
The Regional Livestock Development Programme (LDP) was approved in November 2017, to address the objectives of the RAP as far as the livestock sector is concerned, and Member States are currently incorporating components of the LDP into their National LDPs, including reviewing their Livestock Production, Animal Conservation and Rangeland Management Strategies. Other components of the LDP, such as the SADC Animal Genetics Resources Conservation and Utilization Strategy were approved in May 2020. A plan for its Implementation is currently under development, starting from the FY2021/2022.
A Regional Framework for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Control was developed and approved in 2021 to address the rise of AMR organisms, which are threatening to render existing treatments ineffective against many infectious diseases and thus reverse the gains that have been achieved using antimicrobial agents.
The SADC Plant Genetic Resource Centre(SPGRC), established in 1989 in recognition of the importance of conserving plant genetic resources in Southern Africa to secure adequate crop production, was integrated into the SADC Secretariat in 2017, and has progressed significantly in conserving and preserving the genetic diversity and viability of Southern African plant stocks. The base collection is currently at 18,500 accessions from the SADC Member States. Duplication at Svalbard Global Vault in Norway (a secure backup facility for the world’s crop diversity that is located in the remote Arctic) has increased significantly from 8 percent to 42 percent of accessions held at the regional gene bank at SPGRC.
The SADC Regional Aquaculture Strategy and Action Plan 2016-2026 was approved in 2017 to provide strategic direction for the rapid, environmentally responsible development of aquaculture in SADC Member States, while simultaneously safeguarding the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems, conserving common genetic resources and supporting the maintenance of regional aquatic biosecurity; and to advance the development of cross-border value chains that better enable the utilization of aquatic and human resources within the region. Most Member States are implementing the regional aquaculture strategy and are at different levels and stages.
A Framework for Environmental Management of Aquaculture, Aquaculture Best Practice Management Guidelines and Aquaculture Assessment Tools was developed to support sustainable aquaculture development in Member States. Tree countries were assisted in aligning national strategies with regional strategy (Botswana, Malawi and Namibia), and a policy brief was developed to guide alignment by other Member States. Aquaculture production increased from 69,851 metric tonnes of fish in 2015 to 100,950 metric tonnes of fish in 2018, and 121,130 metric tons of aquatic plants.
The SADC Animal Genetics Resources (AnGR) Conservation and Utilisation Strategy was approved in 2020 to foster an inclusive commitment of the region and to promote biodiversity, conservation and sustainable use of AnGR for economic, social and cultural values with the aim to improve agricultural production and maintenance of species diversity for present and future generations.
Regional and International Trade and Access to Markets of Agricultural Products
The Regional Agricultural Information Management System (AIMS) Strategy was developed in 2021 to provide policymakers, planners and economic players with access to reliable and timely information that is necessary for policy development, emergency preparedness and planning.
The Regional Plant Health Strategy was approved in 2019 to guide Member States with a practical management approach in order to (i) strengthen Member States’ ability and capacity to increase crop productivity levels through appropriate control and management of pests and diseases; and (ii) improve regulatory protection against plant-health risks associated with international trade, thereby improving the ability of Members States ability to access and maintain export markets in accordance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Agreement obligations and the SADC Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Annex to the Trade Protocol.
All SADC Member States comply with Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) requirements and participate every year in the Commission for Phyto-sanitary Measures (CPM) which supports the trade in crops and their products through setting plant-health standards and guidelines; and in the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) standard-setting and monitoring where they obtain disease status certification. Regional Guidelines were developed in 2018 and approved for commodity-based trade of beef during Foot-and-Mouth Disease outbreaks, in line with OIE Requirements. The SADC Secretariat annually facilitates the production of regional common positions, to better influence the decision-making processes in those international fora.
Food and Nutrition Security
The SADC Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (2015-2025), approved in 2014, has gained impetus in implementation from 2018, including the revival of the Technical Steering Committee for the Regional Food and Nutrition Security Strategy. Ten of the 16 Member States have nominated their officials to the Committee, to provide technical guidance to Member States and the Secretariat on the implementation and monitoring of the SADC Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (FNSS). Support to 11 Member States (Comoros, DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia) was provided to align their Food and Nutrition Security Strategies (FNSS) to the regional FNSS.
The SADC Regional Vulnerability Assessment Analysis (RVAA) Programme ensures that the regional vulnerability assessment analysis systems are efficiently functioning and supported. All SADC Member States conduct annual national vulnerability assessments, with timely reports submitted and further reported under the Annual Regional Synthesis Report on Status. An Action Framework exists for the region on improving the quality of young children’s diets, aimed at reducing malnutrition under 5 years.
Management and Conservation of Wildlife and Transboundary Natural Resources
The SADC Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) Programme was approved in October 2013, and aims to develop SADC into a functional and integrated network of trans-frontier conservation areas where shared natural resources are sustainably co-managed and conserved to foster socioeconomic development and regional integration for the benefit of people living within and around the TFCAs, the SADC region, and the world. There are currently 18 existing and potential TFCAs in both terrestrial and marine environments in the SADC region.
The Regional Financing Facility for SADC TFCAs, approved by the Council of Ministers in 2018, was successfully established in 2020 and started operations in 2021. 17
The SADC Regional Fisheries Monitoring Control and Surveillance (MCS) Strategy was approved in 2021 to strengthen compliance and enforcement throughout the regional MCS framework so that fisheries of the region are sustainably managed, and the reduction of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing is achieved in all SADC Member States through enhanced MCS programmes.
The SADC Law Enforcement and Anti-Poaching (LEAP) Strategy 2016-2021 was approved in November 2015 to reduce poaching and illegal trade in wildlife fauna and fora, and enhance related law enforcement capacity in the SADC Region. Member States are implementing the strategy by integrating LEAP activities into their national action plans and allocating resources for implementation, and submitting reports to the Secretariat annually.
Environment and Disaster Risk Management
The Regional Water Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Flood Early Warning System adopted in 2016 has contributed to improvements in climate and weather forecasting, whereby SADC established the Southern African Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF). SARCOF provides a platform for Member States to review the rainfall season in the Region, and discuss the potential socio-economic impacts, including on food security, health, water, energy, and disaster risk management.
The SADC Disaster Preparedness and Response Strategy and Fund (2016-2030) were approved in 2017 and have contributed to the strengthening of regional disaster management and response capacity. Disasters with varying frequency and magnitudes of impact have occurred at an unprecedented scale and a number of programmes are being implemented in terms of mitigation, adaptation and response.
Trans-boundary Cooperation in Water and Other Natural Resources has improved trans-boundary management of resources, thereby reducing potential conflicts over shared resources. Examples of such cooperation include the establishment of River Basin Organizations and Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas across the Region.
A Disaster Risk Reduction Unit was established in 2016 to strengthen coordination in regional disaster preparedness and response, and resilience building.
Health and HIV and AIDS. To attain an acceptable standard of health for all citizens, SADC continued to implement the SADC Health Programme that was approved in 1997, whereby,
A Regional Strategy on HIV Care, Treatment and Prevention for Key Populations and the Guide for HIV Prevention among Adolescent Girls and Young Women and Their Sexual Partners were developed and approved in 2017. As a result, HIV and AIDS and TB have now been mainstreamed into key sectors in SADC and four Member States have reached the 90-90-90 UNAIDS targets, while others are on the trajectory to achieve these important milestones. New HIV infections have declined by 37 percent, while AIDS-related deaths have been halved in the Region.
SADC is part of the Global Prevention Coalition to ensure that the region continues to intensify the fight against malaria, and harmonized minimum standards for the prevention, treatment and management of the disease have been developed to promote health through support for the control of communicable diseases, and preparedness, surveillance and responses during emergencies. Eight Member States are pushing towards malaria elimination by 2030 — Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. These countries have formed a partnership called “Elimination 8” to collaborate across borders. However, COVID-19 has retarded the progress being made on malaria elimination due to disruptions of health programmes across the board.
On the COVID-19 Response, SADC has exhibited determination and solidarity, and has undertaken several coordinated regional responses to put in place various measures to fight the pandemic.
Harmonization of Curriculum
The SADC Qualifications Framework (SADCQF), approved in 2011, was launched in 2017, to enable easier movement of learners and workers across the SADC Region and internationally, and to promote life-long learning. It serves as a regional mechanism for comparability and recognition of full qualifications, credit transfers, creation of regional standards, and facilitation of quality assurance and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities. SADCQF is a reference framework consisting of 10 levels based on learning outcomes and consisting of a set of agreed principles, practices, procedures and standardized terminology.
Women Empowerment: Gender Mainstreaming A number of policies were developed and/or mainstreamed for engendered women empowerment, including,
A SADC Framework for Achieving Gender Parity in Political and Decision-Making Positions, providing strategies and guidelines for strengthening the implementation of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development to ensure that at least 50 percent of all decision-making positions at all levels would be held by women by 2030. Progress is mixed, but gradual steps are being made, with women in leadership positions such as President and Vice President, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, and Speaker of National Assembly or Parliament. A significant number of women are holding a wider range of ministerial portfolios, are parliamentarians, and hold numerous leadership positions in the public sector. Tis notwithstanding, more efforts and commitment by Member States remain critical, in order to achieve the 50:50 gender parity.
Institutional Strengthening. Key institutional reforms, policy reviews, and change management towards enhanced corporate governance and effective delivery were undertaken. Among others, the SADC Organization Structure was reviewed and streamlined in 2016 to deliver on the technological and economic transformation of the Region in line with the SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063.
Post-2020 Direction of SADC. The reputation and development of an organization depends on a clear strategic direction. In this regard, towards the end of my tenure, recognizing that the Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2015-20 was coming to an end, the Region developed a SADC Vision 2050, whose implementation has also been planned through the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-30. These two major documents were approved by the 40th SADC Summit in August 2020.
Vision 2050 sets out the long-term aspirations of SADC over the next 30 years, and envisages a peaceful, inclusive, competitive, middle- to-high-income industrialized region, where all citizens enjoy sustainable economic wellbeing, justice and freedom.
The Vision is based on a form foundation of Peace, Security and Democratic Governance, and premised on three inter-related pillars – Industrial Development and Market Integration; Infrastructure Development in support of Regional Integration; and, Social and Human Capital Development. The Vision recognizes the importance of Crosscutting Issues including gender, youth, environment and climate change, and disaster risk management.
In line with the Vision, the RISDP 2020-30 outlines a development trajectory for 10 years to 2030.
The ultimate aim of SADC is to eradicate poverty. However, many of the SADC citizens still live below the poverty line, what is missing and what should be done to eradicate poverty?
Eradication of poverty is not an event but is rather a process that requires collaborative efforts at national, regional, continental and global levels. Notwithstanding that poverty eradication is at the top of the SADC agenda, it still remains one of the greatest challenges in the Region, with almost half of the 370 million people living on less than US$1 a day. Hunger, malnutrition, gender inequalities, exploitation, marginalization, high morbidity, and HIV and AIDS are a few of the complex challenges that contribute to poverty in the SADC Region. While efforts are being made to tackle the underlying causes, disasters such as drought, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, stifle progress.
To alleviate poverty, SADC has developed various programmes under the RISDP 2020-2030 and Vision 2050, including the Social and Human Capital Development programme which is a crucial component of industrialization and regional integration. The Programme seeks to ensure that socio-economic development is achieved in a human-centred, inclusive, and sustainable manner. The Social and Human Capital Development pillar seeks to create an enabling environment by fostering the link between economic growth and human wellbeing, through holistic interventions that leave no one behind, and end poverty. With a special focus on women, youth, and children, the RISDP 2020-30 accords attention to enhancing opportunities for all citizens to enjoy socio-economic wellbeing in a context of improved food and nutrition security. Interventions will include accelerated education and skills development and access to full and productive employment. RISDP 2020-2030 identifies poverty eradication as the overarching priority of regional integration in Southern Africa. To elaborate on this plan and to translate its priorities into an implementation framework, SADC has also developed the Regional Poverty Reduction Framework. Tis framework covers critical areas where a regional approach is expected to strengthen the national interventions to address poverty, by:
- Implementing people-centred policies on sustainable human and economic development.
- Enhancing productive capacities of Member States and the Region.
- Enhancing income-earning opportunities for the poor.
- Creating socio-economic and political conditions that favour poverty eradication.
- Addressing inequalities, marginalisation and vulnerabilities that perpetuate poverty.
- Confronting the global imbalances and policies that hinder the situation of the majority of poor countries.
There are some perceptions of SADC as an elitist organization which does not do enough for its citizens, so what is the relevance, value and benefits of SADC to the citizens?
SADC is all about its citizens, as demonstrated in the responses above about SADC achievements. All policies, strategies and programmes are geared to the benefit of SADC citizens. Efforts by all stakeholders, including the SADC Secretariat, Member States, and the media, are needed in order to correct this perception and enable citizens to see the benefits and relevance of SADC. SADC has put in place programmes aimed at taking the organization to the people, to enable SADC citizens and other stakeholders to understand its objectives, achievements, and the benefits that citizens derive from being part of SADC. Through these programmes, information is shared through a number of platforms, including the SADC website. SADC recognizes the pivotal role of the Media in informing and educating citizens about the benefits and values of SADC, and encourages partners in the Media, across the Region and beyond, to support SADC in its efforts to create awareness about the benefits of belonging to a shared community of Southern Africa, and ensure that these are enjoyed and reach the lives of all SADC citizens. SADC citizens are called upon to familiarize and understand the objectives of their organization, its achievements, and opportunities. This will enable the citizens to participate in and benefit from the SADC Vision 2050 that envisages a peaceful, inclusive, competitive, middle- to-high-income, industrialized Region, where all citizens enjoy sustainable economic wellbeing, justice and freedom.
What opportunities exist in the SADC Region and what can be done to fully exploit these opportunities? What is the Secretariat doing to market these opportunities?
There are vast opportunities across the SADC Region. These include the following:
The SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) which has created a larger market which allows investors to enjoy tariff-free trade in an integrated market of 16 SADC Member States, with a combined GDP of US$683 billion and a population of close to 400 million, thereby creating investment and trade opportunities as well as economic growth. The SADC FTA is complemented by the expanded and integrated COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) that brings together 27 countries with a combined population of 700 million and GDP of US$1.4 trillion, and the African Continental FTA (ACFTA) that covers 54 countries with a combined population of more than 1 billion and GDP over US$3 trillion.
The peaceful and secure environment, complemented by harmonized and predictable policies, a facilitative business environment and supportive connectivity and trade infrastructure (hard and soft) are key ingredients for domestic investors, and for attracting international investors who can partner with SADC investors to invest and create jobs and wealth in the Region.
The SADC demographic dividend, that includes the young, vibrant, highly educated and skilled population, and the natural resources endowment, are also opportunities for development and regional integration. SADC focuses on skills development and the promotion of science, technology and innovation as part of interventions in the Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063, and exploitation of natural resources for the benefit of SADC citizens.
The level of financial integration has also opened up business opportunities in the financial sectors, including in banking, sale of securities, and mobile transactions, and enables competition on an international scale, directly benefiting the people of the Region.
It is envisaged that by 2050, the SADC agricultural sector would have been transformed through mechanization and other initiatives to contribute to the sustainable management of the environment and natural resources. Commercial farming and transformation of agriculture is therefore an opportunity to be utilized by the SADC citizens and partners.
Mutual recognition in the education sector provides job opportunities for SADC. Various platforms, including the SADC National Committees, National Contact Points and National Media Committees are used to market the opportunities available in the Region. The media in its various forms, that is traditional media such as radio, television, newspapers and magazines, as well as new media such as the internet and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram are also used to market the opportunities available in the Region. SADC citizens are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities.
NB: This interview is also contained in the 41st SADC Summit Brochure which can be accessed on the SADC Website on this link: https://www.sadc.int/files/8616/2921/5919/41st_Summit_Brochure_2021_web…
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