Mbabane: Eswatini Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini has left the country through the KMIII International Airport to attend the 41st Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The Prime Minister will be representing His Majesty King Mswati III in the SADC Summit which is set to take place from 17-21 August 2021.
The Summit will be held under the theme “Bolstering Productive Capacities in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic for Inclusive, Sustainable, Economic and Industrial Transformation”. The Theme seeks to accelerate the implementation of the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030, in particular, the Industrialisation and Market Integration pillar.
The SADC summit will discuss among other things the progress of the regional indicative strategic development plan.
Other things that will be discussed include the Report of the outgoing Organ Chairperson and the performance of the SADC economy as well as HIV/Aids, among others.
It has been reported that the summit will be held with a limited number so as to observe COVID-19 protocols. The summit will be preceded by a Council of Ministers meeting that will be held in a hybrid format whereby a limited number of delegates will attend physically, while others will attend through virtual platforms.
It is also expected that during the 41st Summit, Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, President of Malawi will take over the chairpersonship of SADC from Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of Mozambique who assumed the chairpersonship of SADC on 17 August 2020 during the 40th SADC Summit.
The Summit will take stock of progress made in promoting and deepening Regional Integration in line with SADC’s aspirations as espoused in the RISDP 2020-2030 and Vision 2050, which envisage a peaceful, inclusive, competitive, middle- to a high-income industrialized region where all citizens enjoy sustainable economic well-being, justice, and freedom.
Among the key highlights of the 41st SADC Summit, the Executive Secretary of SADC, Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax, will bid farewell to the SADC Heads of State and Government after serving for 8 years and a new SADC Executive Secretary will be sworn in. Coincidentally, Dr. Lawrence Tax was sworn in as the SADC Executive Secretary at the 33rd SADC Summit which Malawi last hosted in Lilongwe in August 2013.
SADC is an organization of 16 Member States established in 1980 as the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) and later in August 1992 transformed into the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The mission of SADC is to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development through efficient, productive systems, deeper cooperation, and integration, good governance, and durable peace and security; so that the region emerges as a competitive and effective player in international relations and the world economy.
Member States are Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
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