South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will attend the two-day ordinary summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that kicks off in the Malawian capital Lilongwe on Tuesday, his office said.
According to the presidency, leaders from the 16-member bloc are expected to deliberate on peace and security issues as well as implementation of the organisation’s development blueprint, the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030 which was approved in 2020.
“The summit will also examine the performance of SADC institutions and review the overall implementation of SADC socio-economic programmes, with particular focus on the COVID-19 pandemic response in the region,” the presidency said.
Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera is expected to take over the chairmanship of the organisation from his Mozambican counterpart Filipe Nyusi who has led SADC since August 2020.
The 2021 summit is being held under the theme, “Bolstering Productive Capacities in the Face of the Covid-19 Pandemic for Inclusive, Sustainable, Economic and Industrial Transformation.”
“On Monday, President Ramaphosa will present a report on the facilitation process in the Kingdom of Lesotho to the SADC Troika Summit of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation,” the presidency said.
Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi who currently chairs SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation is expected to “present a progress report on the status of regional peace and security.”
The organ report would spell out progress in regional efforts to end a jihadist insurgency in northern Mozambique as well as the peace and security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other southern African hotspots.
Botswana is expected to hand over chairmanship of the organ to South Africa during the Lilongwe summit.
The summit would be also witness the appointment of a new head of the SADC secretary as the term of current executive secretary, Tanzanian Stergomena Lawrence Tax, is coming to an end this month.
NM/jn/APA