The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will hold the 41st Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government in Lilongwe, Republic of Malawi on 17-18 August 2021 with a limited number so as to observe COVID-19 protocols. The Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 41st SADC Summit will be broadcast live by Malawi Broadcasting Cooperation (MBC) TV and accessible on DSTV Channel 295. The summit will be preceded by a Council of Ministers meeting that will be held in hybrid format whereby limited number of delegates will attend physically, while others will attend through virtual platforms.
The Summit will be held under the theme “Bolstering Productive Capacities in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic for Inclusive, Sustainable, Economic and Industrial Transformation”. The Theme eseeks to accelerate the implementation of the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020–2030, in particular, the Industrialisation and Market Integration pillar.
During the 41st Summit, His Excellency Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi will take over the chairpersonship of SADC from His Excellency Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique who assumed the chairpersonship of SADC on 17th August, 2020 during the 40th SADC Summit.
The Summit will take stock of progress made in promoting and deepening Regional Integration in line with SADC’s aspirations as espoused in the RISDP 2020–2030 and Vision 2050, which envisage a peaceful, inclusive, competitive, middle- to high-income industrialised Region where all citizens enjoy sustainable economic well-being, justice, and freedom.
Among the key highlights of the 41st SADC Summit, the Executive Secretary of SADC Her Excellency Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax will bid farewell to the SADC Heads of State and Government after serving for 8 years and a new SADC Executive Secretary will be sworn in. Coincidentally, Dr Tax was sworn in as the SADC Executive Secretary at the 33rd SADC Summit which Malawi last hosted in Lilongwe in August, 2013.
The 41st SADC Summit will be preceded by the following meetings and events
- 12 August, 2021: SADC Public Lecture under the theme: Promoting Digitalisation for Revival of SADC Industrialisation Agenda in the COVID era
- 9-11 August, 2021: Meeting of Standing Committee of Senior Officials and Finance Committee Meetings
- 13-14 August, 2021: Meeting of SADC Council of Ministers
- 16 August, 2021: SADC Organ Troika Summit
For media enquiries, contact Innocent Mbvundula, the SADC Communication and Relations Officer at imbvundula@sadc.int or Innocent Gore, the SADC Communications Expert at igore@sadc.int, or Mr Letso Mpho, Assistant Public Relations Officer lmpho@sadc.int
SADC in Brief
SADC is an organisation of 16 Member States established in 1980 as the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) and later in August,1992 transformed into the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The mission of SADC is to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development through efficient, productive systems, deeper cooperation and integration, good governance and durable peace and security; so that the region emerges as a competitive and effective player in international relations and the world economy. Member States are Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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| Announcement_of_the_41st_SADC_Summit_August_2021_.pdf | 197.29 KB |
| Announcement_of_the_41st_SADC_Summit_August_2021_-_FRENCH.pdf | 204.62 KB |
| Announcement_of_the_41st_SADC_Summit_August_2021_-_PORTUGUESE.pdf | 208.27 KB |
