A Ministerial Partnership Dialogue between the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU) will be held on 15 March 2025, in Harare, Republic of Zimbabwe, where the two parties will engage on issues of mutual interest, including peace and security, human and sustainable development, climate change, environment, trade and investment.
Honourable Prof. Amon Murwira, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, of the Republic of Zimbabwe and current Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers will co-chair the Dialogue with the Honourable Radosław Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Poland, representing the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission.
The Dialogue serves as a platform to reinforce the relations between SADC and the EU and promote cooperation in peace and security, trade and policies aimed at sustainable economic growth and economic reforms in the SADC Region. The Dialogue will deliberate on global, continental and regional issues impacting on the peace and security situation of the region and beyond, as well as on development and cooperation. It will take stock of the progress in the implementation of the SADC-EU Cooperation and the 2021-2027 Multiannual Indicative Programmme for Sub-Saharan Africa (MIP SSA).
The two parties will also celebrate their partnership and the successful implementation of cooperation and financing agreements supporting SADC regional programmes in the areas of peace and security, trade in services, market access, institutional capacity building, natural resources management, transboundary water management, strategic corridors and agriculture, and digital transformation.
SADC will be represented by its “Double Troika” Member States the Republic of Zimbabwe (Chair), the Republic of Angola (former Chair) and the Republic of Madagascar (incoming Chair), as well as the three countries leading the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs: the Republic of Malawi, the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Zambia, and by the SADC Secretariat. The EU will be represented by Minister Radosław Sikorski, high-level officials from the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Commission, the Government of Poland, as well as by the EU Ambassadors to Botswana and SADC, and to Zimbabwe. The Ministerial Dialogue will be preceded by the SADC and EU Senior Officials’ Dialogue on 14 March 2025.
The SADC-EU Political Dialogue was launched at the SADC-EU Ministerial Conference in Berlin, Germany, in September 1994, wherein both parties reaffirmed their determination to reinforce their relationship and to establish a comprehensive dialogue.
The Dialogue will be convened in line with a resolution of the SADC-EU Ministerial Dialogue held in March 2013 in Maputo, Mozambique, wherein both parties agreed that the Senior Officials’ Meeting is to be convened annually whilst the Ministerial Political Dialogue is to be held once every two years, with the hosting role alternating between the EU and SADC regions.
