African Development Bank country managers hold talks with Southern African Development Community officials | African Development Bank

Country managers from the African Development Bank Group and representatives from the Secretariat of the South African Development Community (SADC) held a series of discussions last month about deepening regional integration in the 16-country body through increased cooperation.

The talks took place at a meeting on October 24 in Gaborone, Botswana. The order is also expected to lay the groundwork for improved portfolio performance of the bank’s regional and multinational businesses, and enhanced business development and implementation of regional SADC projects.

The country managers presented objectives and key focus areas for country strategy papers and transformation project highlights. The SADC representatives highlighted priority regional projects and opportunities for cooperation with the Bank. The discussion also shed light on how the Bank can assist SADC member countries in mobilizing resources for regional projects using various financing instruments of the Bank.

The Director General of the Regional Office for Southern Africa, Leila Mokaddem, led the delegation of managers from 15 SADC countries. They met with a team from the SADC Secretariat led by Deputy Executive Secretary of Regional Integration Dr. Thembi Nkosi Mhlongo. On October 26, 2022, country managers also attended an extraordinary meeting of the SADC Committee of Finance and Investment Ministers to discuss recommendations on how to make the $13 billion SADC Regional Development Fund operational.

African Development Bank Director General for Southern Africa Leila Mokaddem and SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration Dr. Thembi Nkosi Mhlongo

The extraordinary and country managers’ meetings were held under recommendations from SADC finance ministers and central bank governors, as well as a recent meeting between the Bank’s senior vice president and SADC deputy executive secretary held in July 2022.

In her remarks, Mokaddem reaffirmed the Bank’s commitment to support SADC countries’ efforts to address economic development challenges at regional and national levels. She also reiterated the importance of strengthening national-regional ties in terms of engagement and programming. She said the meetings would help improve dialogue between country managers and respective ministries, including better alignment of priorities at both national and regional levels.

Dr. Mhlongo noted that cooperation with the regional office of the African Development Bank has improved and, as a result, the SADC Secretariat’s portfolio of bank-funded projects has grown. He also stressed that countries in the region should focus more on regional value chains than countries. He also called for deeper policy dialogue on these issues and for greater coordination and cooperation with the Bank.

The meeting concluded with an agreement to institutionalize bi-annual meeting meetings between SADC and the African Development Bank.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is a regional economic community made up of 16 member states: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.