Malawi: SADC heads of state arrive for the regional summit.
By Joseph Dumbula
This week, Malawi enters its second and final week of hosting the 41st Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeti9ng in the capital Lilongwe.
At the summit, Malawi is slated to take up the Chairmanship from neighbours Mozambique.
According to Malawi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eisenhower Mkaka who is now the Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers the heads of state will tackle issues of recovering from the Covid19 pandemic.
‘’We need to redouble its efforts in industrialisation, but also embrace digital technological and knowledge transfer in order to attain these ambitious goals so as to maximise new market opportunities brought forth by the operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).’’ he said in his acceptance speech for the new role.
On her part, Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo, Outgoing Chairperson of SADC Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mozambique, said the nations need to ensure that its bodies continued to function effectively, thus allowing progress to be made in the implementation of outlined objectives in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
SADC is a Regional Economic Community comprising 16 Member Angola,Botswana,Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo,Eswatini,Lesotho, Madagascar,Malawi,Mauritius,Mozambique,Namibia,Seychelles,South Africa, Tanzania,ZambiaandZimbabwe.
The grouping was established in 1992, SADC is committed toRegional Integrationandpoverty eradicationwithin Southern Africa througheconomic developmentand ensuringpeace and security.
