by Simangaliso Ncube
The regional integration process moved another step forward at the just-ended Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting of Heads of State and Government when nine members ratified a major protocol on “Shared Water Course Systems” over rivers running through the region.
This was a timely thing to do in a region that is characterized by recurrent drought spells. The protocol will ensure increased measures for the optimal utilization and conservation of shared watercourse systems in the region.
Two of the 12 SADC members, Angola and Zambia did not ratify the protocol and asked the meeting to allow them time to conduct internal consultations. Mauritius, which was accepted at the summit as
SADC’s twelfth member, did not have to sign the protocol since it does not share common rivers with other southern African states.
However, the SADC Summit meeting held on 28 August 1995, at the World Trade Centre in South
Africa for the first time, accepted the island state member after it fulfilled conditions of geographical proximity and its subscription to the principles of democracy and human rights.
Some economists believe that Mauritius’ entry will be significant at a time when southern Africa is pursuing the goal of integrating regional economies particularly through trade. Besides a developed trade base, the new member state also has developed financial markets and a flourishing tourism industry.
Tourism contributes a third of the country’s total foreign exchange earnings.
In delivering the statement to mark Mauritius’ acceptance as a SADC member, the Prime Minister of that country, the Right Honourable Sir Anerood Jugnauth, says his country will bring to the
Community its experiences as a thriving and dynamic economy.
“My countrymen have developed a well-deserved reputation for the successful management of our national affairs. We can bring all this experience and expertise of our people as our contribution to our SADC partners,” said Jugnauth.
Another major breakthrough at the meeting was the proposal of selling-up a Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). The meeting placed the onus on the regional ministers of energy to sign the inter Governmental Memorandum of Understanding (IGMOU) that will establish the framework for the SAPP. The ministers will also ensure that the proposal materializes into a concrete idea through consultations among themselves.
Participants at the Summit also dealt with the issue of food security in the region. Given the persistent drought spells in southern Africa, the Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, encouraged all SADC states to re-direct their resources toward the agricultural sector to enable them to be self-sufficient in food production.
“It follows that a strong focus on agriculture and re-direction of resources to its production, storage and distribution should form a central strategy for regional food self-sufficiency and future development efforts within SADC,” said Mugabe.
The drought lowered food production levels in the region and nine SADC states have since launched a Consolidated Drought Appeal to the Western donors for US$270 million in drought aid.
Only South Africa which has sufficient food reserves and Tanzania which had good rains in the last season, have not joined the appeal. The appeal was well received by SADC’s co-operating international partners and donors who pledged their support to assist SADC overcome the drought.
This time SADC was however, better prepared for the drop in food levels compared to 1991/92 when the devastating drought forced the organization to appeal for US$965 million in drought aid.
To redress the problem, the summit noted that there was an urgent need to harmonize the agricultural policies of individual members if the goal of integration is to be realized. Agriculture forms the backbone of most SADC economies.
The 15th Summit meeting also took an initiative to solve the burning issue of the co-existence of SADC and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), two major regional organizations for which membership and some activities tend to overlap.
In the communique, produced at the end of the SADC meeting, it was agreed that a joint SADC/ Comesa summit on the future of the two organizations should be held. A joint Committee of Ministers, five from each side, assisted by five senior officials from the two organizations, would be chosen to draw up terms of references and recommendations for the Chairmen of SADC and Comesa.
The decision on the dual membership of southern African states that belong to both SADC and Comesa, reached at the Gaborone Summit meeting in 1994 was reaffirmed at the recent meeting. In 1994, it was agreed that the geographical area covered by Comesa be split into Comesa North and Comesa South, whereby the latter will comprise the current SADC member states.
The southern African states have been reluctant to merge with Comesa because they argue that smaller organizations are easier to manage than larger groupings which are doomed to fail. They argue that by concentrating on SADC, they are shaping a building block for a continental economic community.
Comesa, on the other hand, has 23 members and its size could be very well be taken to mean an already fully-blown community, yet not much has been achieved toward community building.
Its membership stretches from Lesotho in the south, right through Central Africa, up to Djibouti in north Africa and about half of the members have ratified the Comesa treaty.
Botswana and South Africa have shown their preference for SADC as a vehicle that is likely to become Africa’s first real economic co-operation success story in the establishment of a common market. In his opening address to the summit, Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, reaffirmed his country’s support for the goal of regional cooperation which he argues could be only realized if tackled stage by stage.
“There is need for a phased approach to the goal. If we move with undue speed toward the noble ideals of full integration and trade liberalization, negative migration trends in capital, skills and labour might well set in,” warns Mandela.
Other than the issue of Comesa, another draw-back to southern African economic integration is the existence of yet another regional economic grouping, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) that binds together the economy of South Africa to the economies of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (the BLNS states).
Member states of SACU point to their treaty obligations as their justification for not ratifying the Comesa treaty. The SACU treaty is a binding agreement, which according to international Jaw cannot be altered or cancelled unilaterally but can only be renegotiated. Some analysts believe that the treaty should be renegotiated to include all SADC member states.
In his address to the meeting, SADC Chairman and President of Botswana, Sir Ketumile Masi re, called on the sectors of trade, industry and finance to move in line with the current global economy changes brought about by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Contributing to the deliberations of the summit, Masire said, “lt is incumbent upon us to ensure that Africa is not victimized and marginalized in the implementation of the programme of the WTO.
We can prevent this from happening if we stand together and act collectively.”
A unique feature at the Summit were messages from the youth and women to commemorate SADC’s 15th anniversary. As they prepared to attend the Fourth UN Conference on Women in Beijing, the women called upon the Heads of State and Government to seriously consider the issue of the upliftment of the position of the women in the region. They also encouraged SADC to eradicate hunger, poverty, illiteracy, crime, and the abuse of women and children, among other social ills.
As far as regional children are concerned, their situation could be improved once the proposed new sector on Child Welfare and Health becomes operational.
The Summi1 also reviewed its decision al the Gaborone Summit last year to establish a sector on Political Co-operation, Democracy, Peace and Security.
Once this sector has been put in place, there will be need to integrate its activities with those that had been for the proposed successor to the Frontline States, the Association of Southern African States (ASAS).
SADC Ministers of Foreign Affairs, therefore requested the meeting to defer the allocation of the sector to any member state until consultations with relevant regional Ministers of Defence and Security were completed, to allow the structures, terms of reference and operational procedures of the sector to be drawn-up.
Some observers at the Summit meeting were optimistic that come the next meeting of Heads of States and Governments to be held in Lesotho in 1996, the efforts the region has put on the integration process would have made a significant impact on the population of southern Africa .(SARDC)
