Meeting of Southern African Development community (SADC) standing committee of senior officials kicks off ahead of the 42nd ordinary Southern African Development community (SADC) summit

The Standing Committee of Senior Officials of the Southern African Development community (SADC) kicked off a series of meetings leading up to the  42nd Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government on August 9, 2022 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials is a technical advisory committee to Council of Ministers and comprises Permanent/ Principal Secretary, or an official of equivalent rank from each Member State, from a ministry responsible for economic planning or finance. The meeting of the SADC Standing Committee precedes the meeting of the SADC Council of Ministers scheduled to be held from 13-14 August, 2022 in preparation for the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government.

Ambassador Bernard Sande, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Malawi and Outgoing Chairperson of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials handed over the Chairpersonship to Mr. Zacharie Tsibinda Bilolo, Secretary General for the Ministry of Regional Integration and Francophonie of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ambassador Sande said he was grateful for the opportunity to lead the committee in advancing regional economic integration and development.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Zacharie Bilolo expressed commitment of the DRC to continue promoting the SADC agenda in the coming year.

This year’s SADC Summit will be held on 17-18 August 2022 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo under the theme; Promoting industrialisation through, agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, and regional value chains for inclusive and resilient economic growth which takes forward the implementation of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063 to help SADC economies to diversify away from dependence on primary commodities into high-value manufactured products.

For information about the SADC Summit, visit the link below https://www.sadc.int/latest-news/sadc-hold-42nd-summit-kinshasa-democratic-republic-congo-17-18-august-2022

*Source Présidence de la République Démocratique du Congo