‘UTILISE THE SADC SUMMIT TO ADDRESS ECONOMIC CHALLENGES’

By Lumbiwe Mwanza

STAKEHOLDERS in the country should take interest in the upcoming SADC People’s Summit to chart the way forward on how regional integration can be enhanced for purposes of attaining economic development in the region, the Zambia Social Forum (ZAMSOF) has said.

Speaking with The Scoop, ZAMSOF National Coordinator Gershom Kabaso noted that people in the region faced various challenges and that there was a need for stakeholders to take interest in seeing how best regional integration could help citizens.

“Each SADC country needs to benefit from regional integration through trade with the active participation of citizens to change the status quo,” Mr. Kabaso said.

He said the region had potential which needed stakeholders to work together to actualise, saying the fact that the region had a youthful population should be taken advantage of.

He said that in a bid to attain the SADC objectives which included development, peace and security, and economic growth to alleviate poverty, there was for more involvement of stakeholders.

He said SADC member countries should continue looking at alternatives of enhancing the standard and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration built on democratic principles and equitable and sustainable development.

The 43^rd Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads State and Government will be held on 17 August, 2023 in Luanda, Angola under the theme: “Human and financial capital: The key drivers for sustainable industrialisation of the SADC Region”.

The Ordinary SADC Summit is held every year and is attended by Heads of State and Government from the 16 SADC Member States namely, Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

It is also attended by heads of continental and regional bodies as observers and is responsible for the overall policy direction and control of functions of the Community, ultimately making it the policy-making institution of SADC.