SANF 24 no 23 by SARDC Writers
As Zimbabwe takes the helm of the Southern African Development Community, it pledges to unlock the region’s innovative potential, leveraging southern Africa’s diverse human capital to drive sustained economic growth and development over the coming year.
This pledge was made by Zimbabwe’s Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Albert Chimbindi, during the handover of the chairmanship of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials, in Harare on 8 August.
Chimbindi emphasised that during the next year from August 2024 to August 2025, Zimbabwe aims to harness the potential of the region’s resources and skills to drive sustained economic growth and development.
“Our ability to ensure sustainable use of our God-given resources and uplift societies depends heavily on the efforts we exert towards unlocking the innovative potential of our human capital,” Chimbindi said as he took over leadership of the committee from Nazaré José Salvador of Angola.
Zimbabwe becomes the SADC chair at various levels, for the Committee of Officials, Council of Ministers, and the Summit of Heads of State and Government, when it hosts the 44th SADC Summit in Harare this month, and will champion the implementation of the regional integration agenda under the theme “Promoting Innovation to Unlock Opportunities for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development Towards an Industrialised SADC”.
Chimbindi noted that the theme “should assist us to refocus and refine our collective thoughts in this regard.”
“With the support of the Secretariat, we should come up with practical interventions to ensure that the objectives of the theme are realised.”
President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced during the official opening of the 7th SADC Industrialisation Week held in Harare from 29 July-2 August that Zimbabwe would push for increased investment by the 16 SADC member states in technology and innovation, as well as in research and development to ensure the successful implementation of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063.
He called for the re-purposing of regional and national institutions “to be more relevant for the world of the future.”
This would include a review of the education systems in SADC to bridge the technology gap between the region and industrialised countries.
During the coming year, Zimbabwe is expected to share its experience in the transformation of the education system with other SADC member states.
The country has adopted the Heritage-Based Education 5.0 Policy, a new philosophy of education that is heritage-based, and focuses on the use of the local environment and locally available materials to develop the economy.
The policy is a five-mission education design that adds innovation and industrialisation to the traditional tripartite missions of education that previously focused on teaching, research and community service.
Through its heritage-based development philosophy, Zimbabwe has established innovation hubs and industrial parks to apply theory to practice, and is pursuing measures that promote the optimal use of the country’s heritage and natural endowments such as its flora, fauna, water, minerals and people.
Many new products are being developed and patented at these hubs and parks. The products are well-suited to local conditions and are, therefore, more durable than imported substitutes.
Supporting innovation is critical to the continued development of the SADC region but this demands a clear understanding of innovation ecosystems in the region and a strategic focus on solving key economic challenges.
To take full advantage of the benefits of innovation, collaborative and enabling innovation ecosystems must be established which support an environment for ideas to be generated, developed, tested and scaled for impact.
Chimbindi acknowledged that while SADC has made progress in advancing its regional integration agenda, significant challenges remain in areas such as transport, energy and digital infrastructure – all of which he described as “essential enablers” for sustainable development and industrialisation.
“The agenda makes a clarion call for us to continue improving our transport, energy and digital infrastructure, among others, as these are essential enablers of both our integration agenda and sustainable economic development and ultimately the industrialised SADC that we want,” he said.
Under Zimbabwe’s leadership, the regional bloc will seek to build on existing initiatives such as the SADC Protocol on Trade, the Tripartite Free Trade Area and the African Continental Free Trade Area to boost intra-regional trade, investment and competitiveness.
Equally important, Chimbindi said, will be SADC’s continued support for member states grappling with instability such as Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The region deployed the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) in December 2023 to support the DRC government to restore peace and security in the eastern DRC, which has witnessed an increase in conflicts and instability caused by the resurgence of armed groups.
The deployment of the SAMIDRC was approved by an Extraordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Windhoek, Republic of Namibia, in May 2023 as a regional response to address the unstable and deteriorating security situation prevailing in the eastern DRC.
As part of the SAMIDRC, a SADC regional force from Malawi, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania are working with the DRC armed forces in fighting armed groups operating in the eastern DRC.
In line with a directive from the 43rd SADC Summit held in Angola, the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) completed its withdrawal from northern Mozambique in July, at the end of a three-year mission to assist the Mozambican army.
The withdrawal was informed by numerous assessments that showed that SAMIM had achieved its primary mandate of neutralising the terrorist threat and restoring security to create a secure environment; and strengthening and maintaining peace and security, restoring law and order in affected areas of the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique.
The mission also aimed to support the Mozambican government to continue providing humanitarian relief to affected people, including internally displaced persons.
Chimbindi said Zimbabwe would also prioritise efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change on food and nutrition security and build resilience through climate-smart agricultural techniques and improved disaster preparedness.
One of the impacts of climate change has been an increased frequency of El Niño-induced droughts in recent years, which has affected food security in the region.
The El Niño weather phenomenon is associated with low rainfall and droughts in southern Africa.
The phenomenon is responsible for the current drought being experienced in the SADC region due to poor rains during the 2023/24 agricultural season.
The drought has affected crops and livestock, leading to the disruption of lives and livelihoods for an estimated 58 million people in southern Africa.
At least three of the countries – Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe – have declared the drought situation a state of disaster.
Outgoing SADC Chairperson, President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço launched a humanitarian appeal in May of at least US$5.5 billion to support the humanitarian needs and disaster response recovery of the affected people.
The appeal is aimed at augmenting domestic resources of the affected member states, including efforts for resource mobilisation from national, regional, and international partners in response to the impact of El Niño-induced drought and floods.
The SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials is one of the governance structures of SADC and is made up of principal or permanent secretaries from ministries responsible for regional integration issues in the 16 member states.
The committee reports to the SADC Council of Ministers, which is made up of ministers responsible for Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Economic Planning, or Finance in the member states.
The Council, in turn, reports to the SADC Summit, comprising the heads of state and government. sardc.net
