SANF 06 No 69
Southern African leaders have called an extraordinary summit before the end of October to urgently look into sticky issues of multiple membership and find ways of speeding up implementation of the regional integration agenda.
A ministerial committee has been formed to compile recommendations on what steps member states must take to speed up the decision-making process on the question of overlapping membership and progress towards economic integration.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC), whose leaders have just ended a two-day summit in Maseru, plans to establish a free trade area by 2008 and a customs union by 2010.
The leaders lamented lack of progress on implementation of agreed programmes and projects caused by, among other factors, lack of human and financial capacity.
In the case of the envisaged SADC customs union, the leaders noted further challenges presented by the question of multiple membership of regional economic communities.
According to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, no country can belong to more than one customs union. With the SADC customs union fast approaching, decisions have to be made at the national level sooner rather than later.
To this end, the SADC Summit mandated the taskforce, comprising ministers responsible for finance, investment, economic development, trade and industry, to put together a report that will be discussed at the extraordinary summit.
The taskforce will also make recommendations on new sources of funding for SADC programmes and projects to reverse the current situation where the bulk of the budget for the Botswana-based secretariat is financed by international cooperating partners.
Incoming SADC chairperson, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili of Lesotho, said the current situation where member states will meet only 39 percent of the 2007/08 budget is not desirable.
He reiterated the point made by his predecessor, Botswana’s President Festus Mogae, that the region should take charge of its own destiny by funding the regional integration agenda using its own resources.
“I share these sentiments and intend to push them forward to promote the integration agenda,” said Mosisili outlining his vision as the new chair of SADC.
The Lesotho prime minister said the ministerial task force should identify regional sources of funds such as pension funds in member states as well as private sector finance to support regional projects.
He said the journey towards regional integration could only be accomplished if member states set aside national sovereignty issues and work for the common good of the region.
Addressing delegates at the close of the SADC Summit in Maseru, Mosisili said regional integration has its “obvious costs but I can assure you the costs of not integrating are far higher.”
“We must be prepared to surrender a little more of our national sovereignty over domestic policy so as to pool our regional sovereignty together in pursuit of larger and longer term goals and benefits to all member countries,” the new SADC leader said.
He identified the fight against HIV and AIDS as well as poverty alleviation as priority areas during his tenure.
The summit elected Zambia as the deputy chair of SADC. In line with tradition, the country will host the 2007 summit at which time it will take over the chair from Lesotho. The two countries together with the immediate past chair, Botswana, now form the SADC Troika.
The United Republic of Tanzania was elected chair of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation with Angola as deputy. Namibia, the immediate past chair, completes the Organ Troika.
A new protocol on finance and investment was signed, adding to a list of more than 20 sectoral protocols endorsed since 1992 when SADC transformed from a Coordinating Conference to a Community.
Seven countries signed the protocol while the remaining member states are expected to append their signatures later after consultations at the national level. Those who signed are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania.
Some countries require the approval of their parliament or the concurrency of thei Attorney General before signing protocols.
