WINDHOEK – President Hage Geingob is scheduled to hand over the Sadc chairpersonship to his Tanzania counterpart John Magufuli during the 39th ordinary summit of the region’s heads of state in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this week.
The summit is slated for 17 to 18 August 2019 in the East African country.
Geingob assumed the rotational chairpersonship duties in Windhoek last year August, during the 38th ordinary summit.
This year’s summit will take place under the theme “A Conducive Business Environment for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development”.
This information is contained in a media statement released by the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor.
According to the statement, this year’s theme is in line with previous Sadc summit decisions that endorsed industrialisation as the overarching priority for the region based on the Sadc Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2015-2063).
Geingob last week described the signing of a peace accord between Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi and Ossufo Momade, the leader of the Renamo rebel group, as his crowning moment as the regional bloc’s chairperson.
He was speaking in Maputo, the Mozambican capital, last week Tuesday.
“[The date] 1 August 2019 will go down in the annals of history, as a day where the pendulum swung in favour of lasting peace for the people of Mozambique,” Geingob said in his statement last week.
Geingob described the agreement as one of the chief highlights of what has been a fulfilling year at the helm of Sadc.
“Indeed, this is a crowning moment for me and I am pleased to have been invited to witness this momentous occasion before I hand over to my brother President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (of Tanzania) next week,” Geingob was quoted saying.
A week ago, Namibia’s international relations minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said the country has delivered on advocating for the effective operationalisation of the 38th Sadc summit theme of “Promoting Infrastructure Development and Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development” in the region.
She said this while briefing members of the diplomatic corps on various initiatives Namibia engaged in during 2018 through bilateral and multilateral cooperations.
Highlighting the country’s achievements as the chair of the regional bloc, Nandi-Ndaitwah told diplomats that since Namibia assumed the chairpersonship in August last year, President Geingob has been advocating for the effective operationalisation of the 38th Sadc summit theme, which is so far contributing to infrastructure development and empowerment of the youth in the region, to ensure regional connectivity and economic integration.
“You will recall that when Namibia took over the chairmanship of Sadc, President Geingob stated that ‘during my tenure as chairperson, I will strive to ensure that Sadc remains focused on the promotion of intra-Africa trade’,” Nandi-Ndaitwah, who is also the country’s deputy prime minister.
Indeed, she said, Sadc reached a major milestone when the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) entered into force on 30 May this year, following ratification by 25 countries.
In 2015, the Sadc Summit of Heads of State and Government adopted a Sadc industrialisation strategy and roadmap plus its action plan (March 2017).
The strategy prioritises the activation of regional value-chains and the strengthening of key enabling institutions to support industrial development in the region as a potentially powerful mechanism to promote development.
The regional strategy prioritises about three key industrial sectors namely, agro-processing, pharmaceutical, and mineral beneficiation.
The focus is now on the creation of the necessary conditions in member states and across the region that will attract the private sector to invest in productive activities at a domestic, regional and international level.
These “necessary conditions” are centre-stage of the industrialisation strategies at a member state and regional level.