Maria David
SOUTHERN African Development Community (SADC) Executive Secretary Elias Magosi said that as part of their efforts to mobilize resources to implement regional integration based on prioritized projects, the Secretariat has scaled up its resource mobilization drive with International Cooperating Partners.
Magosi made the remarks during the official opening of the ordinary SADC Council of Ministers meeting held on Sunday in Luanda, Angola.
The meeting is being held under the theme, “Human and Financial Capital: The Key Drivers for Sustainable Industrialization in the SADC Region.”
According to Magosi, the main objective of this March meeting is to consider and approve budgetary requirements for their organization for the 2024/2025 financial year, assess progress made during the 2023/2024 financial year, and deliberate on the outlook for 2024/2025.
He indicated that in the last financial year, the Secretariat has so far mobilized resources to the tune of US$185 million. Despite these efforts, however, the resource envelope still falls far short of the total required to implement the prioritized projects for regional integration and development.
The estimated resources needed to implement the prioritized projects identified in the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2020-2030) are way over US$50 billion.
“To bridge this gap, the Secretariat is exploring innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms, including fast-tracking the operationalization of the SADC Regional Development Fund,” he said.
He added that it is, therefore, critical for Member States to fast-track the signing and ratification of the Agreement behind this Fund to enable the region to establish a sustainable financing vehicle for SADC programs.
With regards to peace and security, Magosi said the region continues to focus on strengthening political cooperation and enhancing democracy, good governance, and human security.
He added that they continue to experience security threats in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Cabo Delgado in the Republic of Mozambique, aggravated by armed groups and terrorist activities, respectively.
Thus, they launched the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) as a regional response to support the DRC in addressing the unstable security situation in the eastern part of the country. The region also continues to support the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM), which is in its final stages of winding up, having made good progress in helping the Government of the Republic of Mozambique to improve the security situation in Cabo Delgado.
The SADC Ministers meeting, which kicked off on the 10th of March, concludes on the 11th of March 2024.
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