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INTRODUCTION

40 Years of SADC: Enhancing Regional Cooperation and Integration traces the journey that SADC has
travelled since its formation in April 1980, showing the major milestones and achievements as
well as the challenges encountered over the past 40 years. The purpose is to raise awareness about
the regional community and its agenda for regional integration, pointing to its future trajectory
as a building block of the African Union and the African Economic Community.
The publication covers the period from the formation of the Southern African
Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) in 1980 to the transformation to the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) in 1992, and the progress to 2020. It gives a historical
context to the evolving transformation and the reasons for key decisions taken along the way.
This is a commemorative publication intended to present and celebrate the achievements
of unity and integration in the regional community, effective practices and lessons learned, toward
a shared future.
For purposes of this publication, milestones are those momentous decisions or processes that
have contributed to the development of SADC. These include the historic Arusha and Lusaka
conferences in 1979 and 1980 that led to the formation of SADCC and the establishment of the
Southern African Transport and Communications Commission; the membership of Namibia at
independence in 1990, and the decision taken in Windhoek by the 12th SADC Summit in 1992 to
transform the organisation from a Coordination Conference into a Community; South Africa joined
SADC after democratic elections in 1994; establishment of the Organ on Politics, Defence and
Security Cooperation in 1996; the decision of the Maputo Summit in August 1999 that led to the
restructuring of SADC and centralisation of activities; the 2003 adoption of the Regional Indicative
Strategic Development Plan; the launch of the SADC Free Trade Area in 2008; the adoption of
the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap in 2015, and Vision 2050 operationalised by 1
the RISDP 2020-2030. This publication also highlights the development of various protocols and
other legal instruments for Community Building.
The publication contains six chapters that highlight the achievements and challenges of the
40-year journey. Chapter 1 gives the historical context and the reasons for establishing the SADCC
in 1980, as well as the situation through the 1980s when the region was under attack by apartheid
South Africa. The trajectory takes in the role of the liberation movements and the Frontline States
leading to Namibia’s Independence in 1990, signing the SADC Treaty and the transformation to
SADC in Windhoek in 1992.
Chapter 2 presents the key decisions taken by Summit in transforming SADC, providing
an overview of the main achievements and milestones in establishing the legal and institutional
frameworks for SADC since its formation, while Chapter 3 looks at the SADC governance
structure which has been developed during this period.
Chapter 4 focuses on achievements in the socio-economic sectors. The analysis is presented
according to the approach adopted by the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan
(RISDP) 2015-2020 where programmes, projects and activities are clustered under three of the
four priority pillars of Industrial Development and Market Integration; Infrastructure Support
for Regional Integration; and Special Programmes of Regional Dimension.
Chapter 5 looks at achievements under the fourth pillar of the RISDP 2015-2020 that
provides the foundation of Peace and Security that anchors the other three pillars.
Chapter 6 concludes the publication by making key observations and policy considerations
as well as effective practices over the past 40 years that could be used to advance the regional
integration agenda into the future. The publication is directed to SADC Member States, policy-
makers and parliamentarians, the SADC Secretariat and its subsidiary organisations, international
cooperating partners, private sector and investors, researchers and academic institutions, as well
as media houses and the people of the 16 Member States of the SADC.