Page 13 - sadc40en

Milestones/Achievements at a Glance _______

SOCIO­ECONOMIC MILESTONES

✒ Adoption of 33 Protocols to guide Regional Integration
Following the signing of the SADC Declaration and Treaty in 1992, the region has shown
commitment to deeper integration through the signature of 33 protocols as well as systematic
strategic plans including the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan; Strategic
Indicative Plan for the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation; SADC
Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2015-2063); and SADC Regional Infrastructure
Development Master Plan. These have laid a strong legal, institutional and strategic foundation
for advancing regional cooperation.

✒ Prioritising Industrialisation in Regional Development and Integration
The decision to frontload industrialisation was taken in 2015 after reviewing previous efforts to
increase intra-regional trade which were hampered by the little capacity in Member States to
produce goods for competitive trade within and outside the region. This led to the adoption of
the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063. The Strategy recognises the private
sector as a major player in SADC industrialisation and regional integration.

✒ Launch of SADC Free Trade Area
The historic launch of the SADC Free Trade Area in 2008 brought a phased programme of tariff
reductions and resulted in more than 85 percent of intra-regional trade among Member States
attaining zero duty status. This has been complemented by efforts to open borders to citizens of
fellow Member States in the spirit of promoting the free movement of goods and services, and 3
facilitation of movement of persons within the region.

✒ A Simplified Trade Regime Framework
The adoption of the Simplified Trade Regime Framework in 2019 has contributed to
trade facilitation.
✒ Toward Financial Inclusion
The approval of the Implementation Plan for the SADC Financial Inclusion Strategy and Small-to-
Medium Enterprises (SME) Access to Finance in 2018 has expanded financial inclusion in the
region. Ten Member States have developed strategies or a national roadmap on financial
inclusion aimed at empowering SMEs, youth and women to participate in economic activity, and
there has been an improvement in financial inclusion among adults in the region, to 68 percent.

✒ SADC Real Time Gross Settlement System
The SADC Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) multi-currency platform went live in
October 2018 to facilitate faster and more efficient payment transactions in the region. All
Member States except Comoros are participating in the SADC-RTGS and a total of 85 banks
(central banks and commercial banks) are also participating in the system. The SADC-RTGS has
enabled Member States to settle payments among themselves in real-time, when previously it
took several days to process cross-border transactions.

✒ Project Preparation and Development Facility
The establishment of the SADC Project Preparation and Development Facility (PPDF) became a
reality in August 2008 following the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between the SADC
Secretariat and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. The SADC PPDF has supported nine
projects to date, of which two are in the transport sector and seven in the energy sector.

✒ SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan
The RIDMP was approved in 2012 and was informed by the understanding that infrastructure
development and maintenance is a priority for accelerating regional economic integration and
development. This includes the concept of One Stop Border Posts as a key element of the
transport and logistics infrastructure to reduce transaction costs for crossing borders.