by Kizito Sikuka in Gaborone, Botswana – SANF 15 no 37
Southern Africa will benefit more from its integration agenda if the region takes full control of its development plan and financing model.
Most of the developmental programmes of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are funded by International Cooperating Partners (ICPs), compromising the ownership and sustainability of the programmes.
For example, it is estimated that more than 70 percent of the SADC budget comes from ICPs, notably the European Union.
In this regard, outgoing chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers Simbarashe Mumbengegwi urged the region to come up with alternative financing modalities that ensure financial independence and self-sufficiency.
“SADC has come a long way and we are extremely proud of its achievements during its 35-year history,” Mumbengegwi told the Council of Ministers in Gaborone, Botswana.
The Council meets prior to the SADC Heads of State and Government Summit that opens on 17-18 August in Gaborone.
“While we celebrate these achievements, we remain deeply conscious of the fact that for as long as we are unable to fund our own organization, the future of our programme and activities will remain uncertain and SADC will not be wholly ours,” said Mumbengegwi, who is the Foreign Affairs Minister of Zimbabwe.
He said while “we deeply appreciate the support that SADC receives from its cooperating partners, our continued dependency on their generosity and benevolence constitutes one of the most profound weaknesses of our organization.”
The SADC Executive Secretary, Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax, concurred adding that it is time SADC takes charge of its own developmental agenda.
She said the Secretariat has since prepared a proposal on how SADC could be self-sufficient. The proposal has been presented and discussed by SADC Finance Ministers.
The measures contained in the proposal are expected to be in line with those advocated by the African Union (AU), which also wants to reduce its heavy dependence on foreign support.
For example, the AU wants to levy taxes on plane tickets, hotels and text messages as alternative sources of financing for the AU. It is hoped that these measures will raise about US$600 million a year, and over five years, it is expected that the AU will be able to pay the bulk percent of its costs using its own funds.
Dr Tax said coming up with an alternative financing model for SADC is critical and requires utmost attention from all stakeholders.
“It is only with our own reliable sources of funds, that we will be able to finance and accelerate our own regional integration agenda at the needed pace.”
In addition to alternative financing, incoming SADC Council chairperson, Kenneth Matambo said there is also need for SADC to focus more on regional projects and activities that have a greater impact on advancing socio-economic development in the region.
“The need for adequate budgetary provisions for financing SADC activities and ensuring assumptions of greater financial responsibility by member states, while prioritizing the region’s activities in order to focus on those issues that would deepen regional integration within a short timeframe, cannot be over emphasized,” said Matambo, who is the Finance and Development Planning Minister of Botswana.
“Let us, therefore, ensure implementation of high impact activities, policies and strategies,” he said.
Another key intervention measure for SADC is to concentrate on those programmes and activities that have a direct bearing on regional integration, as well as peace and security in the region.
It is also critical not to heap too many programmes and activities that member states cannot implement on their own.
Matambo said continued cooperation among SADC member states will allow the region to pursue its shared vision and propel the region to greater prosperity.
“The spirit of the Frontline States should, therefore, invigorate the region into action that would make SADC emerge as the most purposeful, most powerful and most successful African regional economic community,” he said.
The 35th SADC Summit is running under the theme “Accelerating Industrialization of SADC Economies, Through Transformation of Natural Endowment and Improved Human Capital.”
The theme continues the trajectory of the previous Summit held last year in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, which focused on economic transformation and sustainable development “through beneficiation and value addition”.
At the summit, President Seretse Khama Ian Khama of Botswana will assume the rotating SADC chair from his Zimbabwean counterpart, President Robert Mugabe. sardc.net
