The Sunday Mail
Kizito Sikuka
THE Annual SADC Summit, which was held virtually for the first time in history, once again lived up to expectations, with the region adopting a number of initiatives aimed at advancing regional integration and sustainable development.
The measures adopted by the 40th SADC Summit, which was co-ordinated from Maputo, Mozambique, and held on August 17, range from trade and finance, health, as well as peace and security.
In the area of trade, the leaders agreed on a co-ordinated approach to address the impact of Covid-19 on regional economies.
This follows a massive slowdown in economic activities in sectors such as tourism, aviation and manufacturing due to the novel coronavirus that has forced most countries in the region to impose lockdowns to contain the spread of the disease.
In this regard, the summit approved targeted interventions in the affected sectors to help keep SADC economies afloat in the wake of the worst global economic downturn in recent history.
For example, while member states should continue to strengthen their public health systems and social security, it is critical to invest and channel some resources to affected economic sectors so that there can be resuscitated and maintain their competitiveness.
According to the SADC Secretariat, economic growth in the region is expected to shrink by about 3,8 percent in 2020, mainly due to the adverse impact of the pandemic.
As such, the new SADC chairperson, President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique, said member states had no option but to collectively work together since the pandemic knows no borders, race or class.
“In a time of the Covid-19 pandemic, all of us are required to make additional efforts, greater solidarity, co-ordinated and concerted action to fight the pandemic,” President Nyusi said in his address to other Heads of State and Government, who linked up via video conferencing technology from their various countries.
On the post-2020 development agenda, the 40th SADC Summit approved a long-term vision that spells out the aspirations of the region until 2050, as well as a new strategic plan for the next 10 years through 2030.
The vision — known as the SADC Vision 2050 — is based on a firm foundation of peace, security and democratic governance.
It is premised on three interrelated pillars, namely: industrial development and market integration; infrastructure development in support of regional integration; and social and human capital development.
All the three pillars mainstream issues of gender, youth, environment and climate change, as well as disaster risk management.
On the other hand, the new strategic plan — the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2020-2030) — replaces the Revised RISDP 2015-2020 that came to an end in March this year.
The new strategic plan is expected to operationalise Vision 2050, and is the regional blueprint that guides the SADC integration agenda.
In a departure from the previous regional strategic plans, the RISDP 2020-2030 combines interventions previously presented under the Revised RISDP and the Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation.
The decision to include peace, security and governance matters in the RISDP 2020-2030 is important as the two strategic plans are complementary and seek to achieve the same common objective.
Outgoing SADC chairperson, President John Magufuli of the United Republic of Tanzania, said the approval of the two documents — the SADC Vision 2050 and RISDP 2020-2030 — is a major milestone for SADC as it provides the region with a new approach to achieving its objectives of the “SADC We Want”.
The “SADC We Want” envisages a united, integrated and prosperous region where citizens fully enjoy the benefits of belonging to a shared community in Southern Africa.
With respect to history and heritage, the 40th SADC Summit approved the Mechanism to Honour the Founders of SADC.
The mechanism is expected to go a long way in encouraging SADC member states, both at the national and regional level, to appreciate and acknowledge the vision and actions of the leaders who established SADC, formerly the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) in 1980.
This generation of visionary leaders included the founding presidents of Angola (Dr Agostinho Neto), Botswana (Sir Seretse Khama), Mozambique (Samora Machel), United Republic of Tanzania (Julius Nyerere), Zambia (Kenneth Kaunda) and Zimbabwe (Robert Mugabe).
These selfless leaders sacrificed the economic freedom of their countries to ensure that the rest of the region achieved political independence. On the political and security front, the summit was seized with the situation prevailing in the region, especially in northern Mozambique, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the Kingdom of Lesotho. The leaders pledged to support Mozambique in addressing the insurgency in the northern part of the country.
On emerging security threats in the region, the summit “urged member states to take pro-active measures to mitigate external interference, the impact of fake news and the abuse of social media, especially in electoral processes.”
The 40th SADC Summit, which was held under the theme “SADC: 40 Years Building Peace and Security, Promoting Development and Resilience to Face Global Challenges”, also hailed the outgoing chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation, President Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, for maintaining stability in the region during his tenure, which ran from August 2019 to August 2020.
During his tenure, President Mnangagwa was instrumental in brokering a deal that saw the DRC and Zambia commit to amicably resolve their border dispute.
President Mnangagwa successfully convened a regional meeting in May this year where the security situation in northern Mozambique was discussed.
According to a communiqué released soon after the summit, SADC is expected to convene a physical meeting in March 2021 in Maputo, Mozambique, should the Covid-19 situation improve.
The 41st SADC Summit is scheduled for August 2021 in Malawi.
◆ Kizito Sikuka is a researcher and writer who extensively covers regional developmental issues.
