SARDC Senior Research-Writer, Kizito Sikuka, will attend the International Conference on African Agriculture, Rural Development and Sino-Africa Cooperation (CAARDSAC 2014) in Nanjing, China from 21-28 September. CAARDSAC 2014 coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the Centre of African Studies of Nanjing University (CASNJU), and aims to create a platform for better communication and scholarly exchange among Chinese and African researchers. CASNJU was established in 1964 and has played an important role in promoting African studies in China. K Sikuka, from SARDC’s Regional Economic Development Institute, was selected to attend on the basis of his proposal to present a paper on “The African Green Revolution: Drawing Lessons from the Chinese Experience”.
The SADC Energy Thematic Group meets in Gaborone, Botswana, 15-16 September, attended by representatives of SADC and International Cooperating Partners. The SARDC Executive Director, Munetsi Madakufamba will attend with Joseph Ngwawi, Head of SARDC’s Regional Economic Development Institute. SARDC provides knowledge support to the Energy Thematic Group, including production of a news bulletin and a portal on ETG activities.
Phyllis Johnson, the SARDC Founding Director responsible for special projects, is the guest of honour at a meeting of women ambassadors hosted by the Ambassador of Namibia to Zimbabwe, H.E. Balbina Daes Pienaar, on 4 September. She will discuss knowledge support and access, notably through SARDC as a regional knowledge resource, Zimbabwe as current chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and expectations for the coming year.
The Technical Adviser to the SADC Energy Division, Wolfgang Moser, will visit SARDC on 3/4 September to discuss SARDC implementation of the project on Communicating Energy in Southern Africa, which is supported by the Austrian Development Agency. The project includes the publication of an Energy Monitor and an Energy Investment Year Book, as well as activities to support the SADC Energy Thematic Group, chaired by Austria.
China-Africa. Danai Majaha, Assistant Researcher with the Regional Economic Development Institute (REDI), is in Beijing, China attending a seminar on “Employment Promotion and Economic Development for African English-Speaking Countries” that runs from 4-24 September. The seminar is organised by the Academy for International Business Officials, which is the Training Centre of the Ministry of Commerce.
Workshop for SADC negotiators 2-4 September 2014 in Swakopmund, Namibia in preparation for the next round of negotiations of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Egline Tauya, the head of SARDC’s I Musokotwane Environment Resource Centre for Southern Africa (IMERCSA) is attending. One of the workshop objectives is to draft a SADC position for consideration by SADC Ministers who will brief their Heads of State in preparation for the UN Climate Summit in New York on 23 September 2014. Another objective is to draft a SADC position paper on Climate Change in preparation for the next Conference of the Parties (COP 20) in Lima, Peru; to set out a clear roadmap of activities to strengthen the adoption of the SADC position in the post-2015 global agreement on climate change; and, to strengthen the negotiating capacity of Member States.
