17 Aug 2022

SADC executive secretary Mr Elias Magosi has advised the bloc’s heads of state and government on ways of improving regional integration, cooperation and socio-economic development.

 Making introductory remarks  at the organisation’s 42nd summit yesterday, he said it was high time SADC member states cooperated, harmonised legislations and standardised procedures to foster regional integration and cooperation as well as socio economic development. 

Mr Mogosi said there was need to prioritise intra-SADC trade to ensure food movement from countries with surplus to those with deficits. 

“There is need for the region to promote macro economic stability and consolidation which are needed to boost business confidence and ensure economic growth and stability,” he said. 

The executive secretary  called on the region to address energy deficits noting that many countries were producing below capacity.

SADC must also diversify energy resources to power the industrialisation agenda, he said. 

Mr Magosi advised SADC member states to address the infrastructure gap which he said would enhance productivity and  reduce the cost of doing business. 

“SADC needs to develop financial operation instruments and operationalise the SADC Regional Development Fund to leverage private sector resources and support financing of regional projects in the face of limited financial space,” he said. 

The region, he said, presented immense opportunities for investment and economic growth. 

“With a united economic community of 16 member states with abundant natural resources and a combined GDP of close to $700 billion (P8.5 trillion) and a combined population of over 300 million people, SADC has what it takes to lure in investors and be self-sustaining,” he said. 

The executive secretary said the region had achieved several milestones since its inception as attested to by the adoption of several protocols and declarations.

Notable among them was formulation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020-2030 to operationalise  SADC’s Vision 2050, industrialisation strategy roadmap as well as the regional infrastructure development master plan, he said. 

Mr Magosi said all the aforementioned instruments had laid a strong legal institutional and strategic foundation for advancing regional cooperation. 

“The time is opportune to maximise the benefits of these instruments and focus on unlocking the bottlenecks which are slowing down regional integration and access to several markets within the region,” he said. 

Mr Magosi said tremendous progress had been made in creating a conducive environment for doing business and attracting private sector investment. 

However, he said more efforts were required to ensure various regional economies converged in order to avoid current socio-economic challenges. 

With regard to peace and security, Mr Magosi said the region was  relatively peaceful pointing out that peace was critical for regional integration.

 The current peace status was therefore a promising aspect towards attainment of regional integration, he said.

 He said it was imperative that the region continue to jealously guard the recorded peace and security gains. 

On the negative side, Mr Magosi said gender based violence continued to adversely impact on regional socio economic development. Ends