REDI
REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
The Regional Economic Development Institute is a programme department of the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) that undertakes research on regional economic development and integration, and packages and disseminates knowledge on key economic processes as they impact on regional integration in southern Africa.
Objective
The general objective is to ensure that the regional goal of poverty eradication through sustainable and equitable economic development and regional integration, is advanced and the citizens empowered, through access to accurate and reliable socio-economic information for business development and economic growth.
Sectors
Key thematic areas for the economic institute are:
• Energy
• Infrastructure
• Trade
• Tourism
• Natural resources
• Agriculture and food security.
In collaboration with the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and SADC, REDI is implementing a major regional project on Communicating Energy in Southern Africa. First supported by the Government of Norway, and now by the Government of Austria, the project aims to promote and facilitate dialogue on the development of national and regional policies that allow for new private sector investment into the power sector and greater access as well as more efficient use of basic primary and renewable energy sources.
Publications
In addition to specific sectoral reports and publications, REDI produces the following publications available in print and online:
• Southern Africa Today (SADC Today) is a bi-monthly magazine covering sectoral and current issues in southern Africa, co-published with the SADC Secretariat in the three official languages of English, French and Portuguese;
• Southern African News Features (SANF) is a regional news features service that adds depth to understanding of regional issues and is widely reproduced in the media;
• Policy Review Briefs cover a wide range of issues, including energy, trade, infrastructure, natural resources, elections and agriculture;
• Energy in Southern Africa is published as part of Southern Africa Today.
Energy Portal for the SADC Energy Thematic Group available online.
Southern Africa Today was established in 1998 and has an archive on SADC issues going back 15 years, while the Southern African News Features has issues covering the past 20 years. These and other publications provide a contemporary and searchable online archive of regional issues through the Virtual Library for Southern Africa, currently under reconstruction.
