SANF 05 no 75
The new SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomão, is a former planning minister in Mozambique who is well known and respected in the region.
His appointment was announced at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held on 17-18 August in Gaborone.
An economist by profession, Salomão, 51, has made significant contributions to the development of his country and the region, serving his country in senior posts for the past 22 years.
He was most recently the Minister of Transport and Communications from 2000-2004. During this period, he also held international posts as chairperson of the ministers committee of the African Union charged with the development of ICTs in 2003-2004, and as chairperson of the SADC Transport and Communications Committee (SATCC) from 2000 to 2002.
He served as Minister of Planning and Finance from 1994 to 1999, during the period of reconstruction in Mozambique following the peace accord.
During the same period, he also served as governor for Mozambique at the African Development Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
His career in government began when he served as Secretary of State for National Defence from 1983 to 1989. From this post he rose through the ranks to become Deputy Minister of Planning and Finance, 1990 to 1994.
Prior to his SADC appointment, Salomão was a member of parliament in Mozambique following elections in December 2004.
In his application for the position of executive secretary, Salomão noted his deep interest in contributing to strengthening the regional integration process towards a qualitatively higher level of development in southern Africa, a goal he has already contributed to when serving as a cabinet minister in Mozambique.
He pledged to “continue the implementation of our organisation’s angular vectors, namely the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), the Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation (SIPO) and other key instruments, within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).”
During his term as transport minister, Salomão led a successful restructuring of the ports and railways sector in Mozambique, in particular its concession to private initiative.
He contributed to the consequent modernisation of infrastructure in the region including the ports of Maputo, Nacala and Quelimane, and reconstruction of the Sena line in the Beira railway system.
He developed and led a successful programme of reform of the telecommunications sector in Mozambique in 2000-2004, aimed at the sector’s modernisation and competitiveness.
Other achievements include strengthening of the technical capacity of the national regulatory body for telecommunications, the approval of a new telecommunications law and policy, and the licensing of a new mobile telephone operator, thus helping to enhance the competitive environment as well as improved quality of services provision.
Salomão received his academic training in Mozambique where during his early academic years he was awarded a qualification as Certified Public Accountant in 1972. In 1976 he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and in 1990 he achieved his Master of Arts in Economics from the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo where he later became an economics lecturer between 2002 and 2004. He is a PhD candidate in economics with Johns Hopkins University, USA.
SADC’s new Executive Secretary was born on 16 Octber 1954 in Inharrime, Inhambane Province in Mozambique. (SARDC)
