Chakwera in Kinshasa
* SADC meetings gave opportunities for Malawi to interact with all manner of Ministries, departments and agencies
* We were able to mobilize the whole region to act together combatting insecurity in neighboring Mozambique
* Regional integration will happen when countries are able to trade amongst themselves
By Wallace Chipeta, MANA in Kinshasa, DRC
President Lazarus Chakwera’s one-year tenure as chairperson of Southern African Development Community (SADC), Malawi stands to gain a lot in the short and long terms by opening up avenues for more international trade in the region and rest of the world.
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Chakwera said this on Thursday in Kinshasa after handing over office to Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President, Felix Tshisekedi during the 2022 SADC Summit.
“With SADC meetings that have been taking place in Lilongwe, Malawi has been put on the map. It’s profile has been raised,” he said, adding that the SADC meetings gave opportunities for Malawi to interact with all manner of Ministries, departments and agencies — within Malawi and the region as the whole.
Among such Ministries were of trade and industry, natural resources, mining and agriculture — that raised awareneness of the development issues through sharing experiences and skills among delegates to the meetings.
“This year has been very good for Malawi in terms of its own position, vis-a-vis resolving issues to do with security threats in Mozambique.
We were able to mobilize the whole region to act together combatting insecurity in neighboring Mozambique.”
He said insecurity in Mozambique, is insecurity in Malawi and emphasized that SADC had to resolve the conflicts in Mozambique because the region could not want to see its people suffering and that other countries like Malawi should not be on the receiving end of those insecurities.
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He also said SADC had opened up a lot of protocols like that on trade that were dormant which Malawi, as a member State, stands to benefit, saying: “Now, we would want to trade fairly and openly with the rest of the region.
“Regional integration will happen when countries are able to trade amongst themselves, movements of peoples and goods facilitated and then the Africa trade area can take off.
Adding credence to this, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nancy Tembo said President Chakwera has fulfilled most major planned development interventions contributing to the regional integration, economic growth and stability.
Chakwera on his visit to SADC Secretariat in Botswana
“Our President has done extremely well,” she said. “You are aware that the whole world was struggling with CoVID-19 but Dr. Chakwera — with the help of South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa discussed and lobbied several organizations and partners to make CoVID-19 vaccine available for member states.
Now the problem is no longer scarcity of CoVID-19 vaccine but low uptake of the vaccine among the eligible population [due hesitancy].”
She also said Chakwera facilitated implementation of priority interconnector projects in the SADC that are aimed at connecting Angola, Malawi and Tanzania and other countries to the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) grid.
Chakwera and Mozambique President Nyusi commissioning power interconnection
The Minister said he also promoted strengthening of irrigation systems to ensure food secure SADC region, promoted value addition to grain crops, adherence to existing employment agreements and policies, including Africa free trade area.
On August 13, Tembo delivered her handover statement at the SADC Council of Ministers which she chaired since August 2021 during Malawi’s tenure.
According to SADC Secretariat, the Council of Ministers oversees the functioning and development of the SADC and ensures that policies are properly implemented.
Returned home on Thursday
The Council of Ministers are from each Member State, usually from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economic Planning or Finance, which meets twice a year in January or February and immediately prior to the Summit in August or September.
Theme for the 42nd Ordinary SADC Summit was ‘Promoting Industrialization through, Agro-processing, Mineral beneficiation, and Regional Value Chains for Inclusive and Resilient Economic Growth’.
President Chakwera, who was accompanied by the First Lady, Madame Monica Chakwera, returned home from Kinshasa on Thursday.
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