by Kizito Sikuka in Mbabane, Swaziland – SANF 16 no. 34
He did not shy away from the reality and also spoke with passion about what he believes to be the future of southern Africa and the rest of the continent.
Former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) should not be dispirited by the numerous challenges hindering socio-economic development and deeper regional integration.
These challenges include limited financial resources and the slow pace of implementing regional activities, programmes and projects within the agreed timeframes.
“Let me emphasize that regional integration is desirable and we cannot walk away from it,” Kikwete said at the SADC Public Lecture on Upscaling Regional Economic Integration and Development held on 23 August at the University of Swaziland ahead of the 36th SADC Summit in Mbabane.
He said the Founding Fathers of SADC, formerly called the Southern Africa Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), realized many years ago that “individually our countries are small and weak but collectively we can become a bigger market and a stronger entity.”
“In this regard, when we pull our abundant resources and capability together we can be a formidable economic powerhouse for the benefit of all of us,” Kikwete said.
He said while significant progress has been made to promote integration in southern Africa, the region continues to lag behind in meeting some of its desired goals.
For example, following the historic launch of the SADC Free Trade Area in 2008, the region expected to have established a Customs Union by 2010 and a Common Market by 2015.
A Monetary Union was planned for 2016, while a single currency was expected to be launched by 2018. However, these targets have remained elusive for SADC.
“This is 2016, and when we take stock about where we are, it is evident that we are far behind,” Kikwete said, adding that “we are still at the Free Trade Area stage launched at the 28th SADC Summit by 12 out of 15 member states of SADC.”
The three SADC countries that are yet to join the SADC FTA are Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Seychelles.
So, considering these challenges, what does SADC need to do to bring on track, as well as accelerate the regional integration agenda?
“I am of the view that we must keep the roadmap but develop a new calendar which is more realistic to our circumstances…If that is not done we will be doomed to fail,” Kikwete said.
The process of realigning the region’s development agenda in line with new realities and emerging global dynamics is already at an advanced stage in SADC.
For example, the region has revised its Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), which guides the implementation of all SADC programmes over the period 2015 to 2020, as well as intensifying its efforts to bring into line all regional activities, programmes and projects to the recently approved Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap.
In addition to this, the region is also aligning its SADC gender and development targets with local trends and emerging issues such as climate change.
Kikwete also said it is critical for SADC to focus more on regional integration rather than cooperation.
Though the two concepts are closely interlinked, he said, cooperation mainly refers to where “countries agree to cooperate in certain things like transnational crime, agriculture, education, health and infrastructure” yet with integration countries’ main focus is to “agree to weave or tie their economies together.”
“In essence what we have been doing has been more on the regional cooperation side than on integration. We have now to take on the path of regional integration in earnest,” he said.
“It is not easy because there will be sacrifices to be made, some will even affect our sovereignty. But we have no choice but make the sacrifice for ultimately, the benefits are bigger. That is why even the stronger and developed economies are busy pursuing integration arrangements.”
The SADC Public Lecture is held annually prior to the SADC Summit. It is organised by the SADC Secretariat in collaboration with a university in the SADC Summit host country, and in this case with the University of Swaziland.
The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Swaziland, Dr. Barnabas Dlamini said it is an honour to have former SADC Heads of State and Government delivering such lectures as the leaders have a lot of institutional history to offer to present and future generations.
Kikwete stepped down as President of Tanzania last year after serving his second and last tenure in line with the country’s Constitution.
SADC Executive Secretary, Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax said that the public lectures are critical to publicizing SADC so that people better understand about the various benefits of belonging to a shared community of southern Africa.
The theme for the 36th SADC Summit is “Resource Mobilisation for Investment in Sustainable Energy Infrastructure for an Inclusive SADC Industrialisation for the Prosperity of the Region” and focuses on how the region could mobilize resources to improve energy infrastructure development
The theme of the summit continues the industrialization trajectory of the last two summits hosted by Zimbabwe in 2014 and Botswana in 2015, which focused on economic transformation and sustainable development through beneficiation and value addition, and on transforming natural resources and human capital to boost sustainable development respectively.
At the two-day summit running from 30-31 August, King Mswati III of Swaziland will assume the rotating SADC chair from President Seretse Khama Ian Khama of Botswana. sardc.net
