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Kizito Sikuka in Gaborone, Botswana
SOUTHERN Africa will benefit more from its integration agenda if the region takes full control of its development plan and financing model. Most of the developmental programmes of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) are funded by International Cooperating Partners (ICPs), compromising the ownership and sustainability of the programmes.

For example, it is estimated that more than 70 percent of the Sadc budget comes from ICPs, notably the European Union.

In this regard, outgoing chairperson of the Sadc Council of Ministers Simbarashe Mumbengegwi urged the region to come up with alternative financing modalities that ensure financial independence and self-sufficiency.

“Sadc has come a long way and we’re extremely proud of its achievements during its 35-year history,” Cde Mumbengegwi told the Council of Ministers in Gaborone, Botswana, recently.

The Council meets prior to the Sadc Heads of State and Government Summit that opens today and tomorrow in Gaborone.

“While we celebrate these achievements, we remain deeply conscious of the fact that for as long as we’re unable to fund our own organisation, the future of our programme and activities will remain uncertain and Sadc will not be wholly ours,” said Cde Mumbengegwi, who is Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs Minister.

He said while “we deeply appreciate the support that Sadc receives from its cooperating partners, our continued dependency on their generosity and benevolence constitutes one of the most profound weaknesses of our organisation.”

Sadc executive secretary, Stergomena Lawrence Tax, said it is time Sadc took charge of its own developmental agenda.

She said the Secretariat has since prepared a proposal on how Sadc could be self-sufficient. The proposal has been presented and discussed by Sadc finance ministers.

The measures contained in the proposal are expected to be in line with those advocated by the African Union (AU), which also wants to reduce its heavy dependence on foreign support.

The AU wants to levy taxes on plane tickets, hotels and text messages as alternative sources of finance.

It is hoped that these measures will raise about $600 million a year, and over five years, it is expected that the AU will be able to pay the bulk percent of its costs using its own funds.

Tax said coming up with an alternative financing model for Sadc is critical and requires utmost attention from all stakeholders.

“It’s only with our own reliable sources of funds, that we’ll be able to finance and accelerate our own regional integration agenda at the needed pace.”

In addition to alternative financing incoming Sadc Council chairperson Kenneth Matambo said there is also need for Sadc to focus more on regional projects and activities that have a greater impact on advancing socio-economic development in the region.

“The need for adequate budgetary provisions for financing Sadc activities and ensuring assumptions of greater financial responsibility by member states, while prioritising the region’s activities in order to focus on those issues that would deepen regional integration within a short timeframe, can’t be over emphasised,” said Matambo, who is Botswana’s Finance and Development Planning Minister.

“Let’s, therefore, ensure implementation of high impact activities, policies and strategies,” he said.

Another key intervention measure for Sadc is to concentrate on those programmes and activities that have a direct bearing on regional integration, as well as peace and security in the region.

It is also critical not to heap too many programmes and activities that member states cannot implement on their own.

Matambo said continued cooperation among Sadc member states would allow the region to pursue its shared vision and propel the region to greater prosperity.

“The spirit of the Frontline States should, therefore, invigorate the region into action that would make Sadc emerge as the most purposeful, most powerful and most successful African regional economic community,” he said.

The 35th Sadc Summit is running under the theme “Accelerating Industrialisation of Sadc Economies, Through Transformation of Natural Endowment and Improved Human Capital.”

The theme continues the trajectory of the previous Summit held last year in Victoria Falls, which focused on economic transformation and sustainable development “through beneficiation and value addition”.

The 35th Sadc Heads of State and Government Summit will deliberate on a wide range of issues, particularly on how Southern Africa could fully benefit from its vast natural resources and improvement of the livelihood of its citizens.

According to the Council of Ministers, discussions will focus on advancing the industrialisation agenda of the region.

Industrialisation was identified by the last summit held in Victoria Falls, as one of the critical enablers for Sadc to achieve sustainable socio-economic development.

This is in realisation of the fact that countries in the Southern African region are getting very little in return from their natural resources since most of them do not have vibrant industrial bases that can allow them to add value to their resources before trading among themselves or exporting to other parts of the world.

“The proposed theme by Botswana takes forward the industrialisation agenda,” new Sadc Council chairperson, Matambo said.

He said the Council agreed to recommend to the heads of state and government that all member states would now be expected to make progress reports in implementing the industrialisation agenda at all future Council and Summit meetings.

Another key issue is on the Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) involving two other Regional Economic Communities (RECs), namely the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the East African Community (EAC).

Comesa, EAC and Sadc jointly launched an enlarged market in June covering 27 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa.

The Tripartite FTA creates a combined population of some 600 million people covering half of the member states of the AU with a total gross domestic product of about $1 trillion.

The enlarged market aims to promote the smooth movement of goods and services across borders, as well as allowing member countries to harmonise regional trade policies to promote equal competition.

A total of 16 countries have signed the agreement to establish the Tripartite FTA, eight of them from Sadc which are Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Namibia, Seychelles, Swaziland, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

The remaining countries requested more time to complete their internal processes before signing the document.

As such, the leaders set to come up with ways on how Sadc as the current chair of the tripartite arrangement is able to facilitate the finalisations of negotiations on some of the outstanding areas still under discussions.

Linked to this is preparation for the launch of the Continental FTA. The Sadc region has started negotiations for the launch of the Continental FTA set for 2017.

According to Matambo, the summit is expected to “advocate for a pragmatic approach to the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area, building on progress achieved and lessons learnt at the REC levels and the Tripartite FTA”.

Other issues for the leaders will be the implementation plan and financing of the Sadc Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap and the Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2015-2020.

The Sadc Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap aims at accelerating the growing momentum towards strengthening the comparative and competitive advantages of the economies of the region, and is anchored on three pillars, namely industrialisation, competitiveness and regional integration. The Revised RISDP is a five-year plan that guides the implementation of all Sadc programmes from 2015 until 2020.

Summit is also expected to approve the Draft Charter establishing the Aviation Safety Organisation as well as the Draft Sadc Declaration on Youth Development and Employment. Both legal instruments were approved by Council when it met on August 14-15.

The heads of state and government will also discuss the region’s political and socio-economic development issues. These include the political situation in Lesotho and the continuing instability in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At the summit, President Seretse Khama Ian Khama of Botswana will assume the rotating Sadc chair from his Zimbabwean counterpart, President Robert Mugabe. — sardc.net