The Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), His Excellency Mr Elias M. Magosi, on 11th May 2022, paid a courtesy call on His Excellency Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe at State House in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The courtesy is part of the SADC Executive Secretary’s programme to introduce himself to the Presidents, share his ideas about the Secretariat’s role, a sustainable approach on how to expedite regional integration, peace and security; and seek guidance. The SADC Executive Secretary has so far, paid courtesy calls on their Excellencies for the Republics of Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia.
The SADC Executive Secretary highlighted that while the region was making progress to implement its programmes, there are a number of bottlenecks which the region needs to unblock to fast track regional integration and industrialisation to enable the citizens of the region enjoy the benefits of belonging to a shared community.
“A lot of work has been done to put in place very good Protocols and legal instruments that aim to facilitate deeper regional integration and to ensure that the region achieves its purpose, but a number of them are not yet in force as they are yet to be acceded to, or ratified by the two-third majority, and this is one area I want to focus on to support and facilitate Member States”, H.E Magosi said.
President Mnangagwa welcomed the SADC Executive Secretary, and assured him that the Republic of Zimbabwe will support his innovative ideas and support his approach on how to expedite regional integration in the community. “I’m impressed by your focus and the manner in which you have articulated how we should proceed as a regional to accelerate regional integration and industrialisation, and be assured that the Republic of Zimbabwe will support you,” H.E. Mnangagwa told the SADC Executive Secretary.
During the meeting, H.E. Mnangagwa, who was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ambassador Frederick Musiiwa Makamure Shava and the SADC National Contact Point for the Republic of Zimbabwe, Ambassador Raphael Tayerera Faranisi, highlighted Zimbabwe’s priorities in support of regional peace and integration, and indicated his country’s readiness to support regional Integration through infrastructure development and free Movement of Persons in the regional community. The Republic Zimbabwe and Seychelles are the two countries in the SADC region where citizens from the community are exempted from visa requirements.
While in Zimbabwe, the SADC Executive Secretary used the opportunity to visit the SADC Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre (RPTC) where he held consultations with the Commandant Rear Admiral Gottlieb Pandeni, the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC).
H.E. Magosi is the seventh Executive Secretary of SADC who assumed his position on 1st September, 2021, following his appointment at the 41st SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Lilongwe, Malawi in August, 2021.
The SADC Executive Secretary was accompanied by the Director for Policy Planning and Resource Mobilisation, Dr Mubita Luwabelwa, the Head of Communications and Public Relations Unit Ms Barbara Lopi, the Head of the Regional Early Warning Centre Mr Habib Kambanga, and the Executive Assistant to the Executive Secretary Ms Kelejwang Moichubedi.
