16 Aug 2015

The new SADC Council of Ministers chairperson, Mr Kenneth Matambo says the region must put more emphasis on creating more jobs for its people and intensifying the fight against poverty.

Mr Matambo, who is minister of Finance and Development Planning, took over the chairpersonship role at the opening of a two-day SADC Council of Ministers meeting in Gaborone on Friday August 14, taking over from Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs minister, Mr Simbarashe Mumbengegwi.

Botswana will hold the chairpersonship for the next 12 months. Mr Matambo said SADC countries would succeed in creating more employment opportunities if their economies could broaden their industrial and economic bases.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Matambo pointed that he expected the adoption of the Industrialisation Strategy to catalyse regional cooperation and integration to ensure that SADC moves ahead in unison as a region.

“Let us ensure that major economic and technological transformation at national and regional levels accelerate economic growth and enhance comparative and competitive advantages of our economies, the importance of which are highlighted in the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap,” he said, urging the region to promote people-centred development when executing its plans.

He said the region should continue looking at ways and means of improving the standard of living of its people, as well as improving efficiency in the use of resources at its disposal.

Outgoing chairperson, Mr Mumbengegwi, said he and his country were honoured to have been entrusted with steering council activities since last year August. He said the council had worked hard to put in place a regional Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap, which was approved by the SADC Summit in April.

“We are not oblivious to the fact that much more remains to be done in this area, the most urgent and important task being the speedy operationalisation of the strategy,” he said.

Briefing the council, SADC executive secretary, Dr Stergomena Tax, explained that the political and security situation in the region had remained stable. Dr Tax also said the region had made enormous strides in the formulation of the Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063.

Further, she said the region witnessed launching of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) involving SADC, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the East African Community. ENDS