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The first allocation by the PPDF was approved in February 2016 when the DBSA
approved US$3.5 million towards the development of the multi-country regional inter-
connector transmission line for electricity linking Mozambique, South Africa and Zim-
babwe. To date, the PPDF has supported a total of nine projects, two of which are in the
transport sector and seven are in the energy sector.

Towards a Regional Development Fund
The SADC Regional Development Fund has been on the cards from the inaugural summit
of SADC. One of the agenda items of the Lusaka Programme of Action was the “Con-
ducting of studies leading to proposals for the establishment of a Southern African Devel-
opment Fund”. Momentum has gathered pace with the approval of an Agreement
operationalizing the fund by the 36th SADC Summit in August 2016.
The Secretariat is now finalizing the draft SADC Regional Resources Mobilization
Framework which will determine how fiscal space can be created to enable Member States
to finance regional activities, programmes and projects.
The adoption of a regional development fund will enable SADC to fully and inde-
pendently finance its own integration agenda. Currently, it is estimated that only 10 percent
of regional projects is funded by SADC Member States while the balance comes from in-
ternational cooperating partners. This situation has compromised the sustainability of re-
gional programmes.

Towards Financial Inclusion
108 To promote financial inclusion, SADC approved the Financial Inclusion Strategy and
SME Access to Finance in 2016, and the Financial Inclusion Implementation Plan in 2017.
The strategy seeks to accomplish three interlinked goals – Improve livelihoods; Drive econ-
omic growth; and Drive Industrialisation.
A total of 10 Member States have developed either financial inclusion strategies or
a national roadmap on financial inclusion, and there has been an 8 percent improvement
in financial inclusion among adults in the region, which stands at 68 percent.
With regard to cross border remittances in the region, which are critical for financial
inclusion and poverty alleviation, the cost of cross border remittances has been reduced
by 3.6 percentage points from an average of 13 percent per transaction in 2016 to about
9.4 percent in 2019 in the corridor between South Africa and Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho,
Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Investment Policy Framework
To improve the investment and business environment and remove barriers to investment,
SADC is implementing a Regional Action Programme for Investment, and has developed
an Investment Policy framework to guide Member States in developing their National In-
vestment Action Plans.
The SADC Regional Investment Policy Framework aims to facilitate regional co-
ordination and exploit economies of scale in improving investment frameworks and policies
across SADC Member States. It also provides a mechanism for knowledge-sharing and
policy dialogue around good practices.
In addition, a Bilateral Investment Treaty Template was developed to assist Member
States in negotiating investment treaties. On the taxation, three guidelines were developed
to facilitate tax cooperation in the region and these are: Guidelines on the Cooperation of
Value Added Tax; Guidelines on Cooperation on Excise Taxes; and Guidelines on Coop-
eration in Tax Incentives.

4.2.2 Infrastructure Development in Support of Regional Integration
The development of transport, communication and other infrastructure networks was one
of the motivations for the founding of a regional community. The leaders of the Southern