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FOREWORD

The year 2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the Lusaka Declaration Southern
Africa: Toward Economic Liberation and the inaugural Summit of nine countries that
established the Southern African Development Coordination Conference
(SADCC) on 1 April 1980, the predecessor to the Southern African
Development Community (SADC). The leaders or representatives of Angola,
Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, United Republic of
Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe met at the Mulungushi Conference Centre
in Lusaka, Zambia, to chart a vision for Southern Africa, a vision that has guided
the development and progress of the region over the past 40 years, and is
expected to shape the destiny of current and future generations.
Driven by the strong desire of the SADC founders to see Southern Africa
achieving political emancipation and economic development, the region has made
significant progress in advancing regional cooperation and integration. One of
the first notable achievements was the solidarity shown by the region as it H.E. Filipe Jacinto Nyusi
championed the global campaign against the then apartheid South Africa. The President of the Republic of Mozambique
culmination of this pressure led to the collapse of the apartheid system and the Chairperson of SADC
independence of Namibia in 1990 and South Africa in 1994. So we then became
whole as a region, with the return of our independence and human rights.
As a region, we are proud to say that we have made significant progress
in strengthening our efforts to integrate our economies and promote peace and security, and we
have decided to honour our founders and thank them for their vision, dedication, courage and
values, which we have inherited. As the current generation of leaders, we want to build on their
vision, values and achievements, and ensure that we leave a united and prosperous region for the iii
next generations, so the Youth of today can strengthen the integration of the region and continent,
and expand the achievements going forward, using their own innovations and technologies.
We will bequeath to them a peaceful environment in which to live. A major achievement
over the past 40 years has been SADC’s ability to remain peaceful, thanks to the gallant efforts
of the women and men who protect our borders against internal and external aggression and
criminal activities, as well as the strong political leadership provided by the Organ on Politics,
Defence and Security Cooperation. Armed with our intimate knowledge of historical
developments across the region, SADC has provided leadership whenever political challenges
have arisen in Member States. Such timely interventions have helped to quell tensions in situations
that otherwise could have worsened.
The results of our regional cooperation are very visible, especially in peace and security, which
provides the basis for economic activities, and in infrastructure development, transport and
communications, democracy and human rights. Throughout the 1980s we were at war with apartheid
South Africa which used military strength and economic pressure to prevent and destroy the progress
of neighbouring countries. We could not communicate directly with each other as telephone lines
went via Europe, we could not travel freely throughout the region or conduct trade as our
infrastructure and industry were destroyed or damaged. The economic cost and the loss of human
lives were of an unimaginable magnitude. To be where we are today is a miraculous development.
In addition to our contribution to political liberation, the transition of the SADCC to the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 1992 at a Summit in independent Namibia
marked a significant achievement when we signed the SADC Treaty and Declaration to move
beyond the coordination of activities to become a regional economic community.
The frontloading of industrialisation in the economic integration agenda, through the
SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Road Map 2015-2063 which was adopted in 2015 in Harare,
Zimbabwe, is yet another example of the region’s determination to integrate its economies and to
claim its rightful place within the global economy. Although endowed with some of the richest
reserves of minerals in the world and other natural resources, the region has until recently,
ironically, been a net importer of processed goods because the bulk of our resources have been
exported in raw form. It was, therefore, a momentous occasion when we took the decision in 2015
to ensure that we extract maximum benefits from our natural resources by making sure that there
is value addition and beneficiation that takes place before they are exported. This would ensure
that the region has a greater portion of the socio-economic benefits that accrue from the resources.