Southern African leaders gather for a summit on Thursday in Lesotho to discuss ways of streamlining trade to boost development in the poverty-sticken 14-nation regional bloc.
The two-day talks will look at economic goals set for the Southern African Development Community (SADC), including an accord inked in 2000 where member countries agreed to scrap tariffs on 85% of all goods within two years and establish a free-trade zone.
”I don’t have any doubt that the most important outcome of the meeting will be the implementation of regional integration,” SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao told reporters on Wednesday.
Apart from creating the proposed free-trade area by 2008, SADC countries are also aiming to launch a customs union by 2010, followed by a common market by 2015, monetary union by 2016 and a single currency by 2018.
”The key driver for development and deeper integration within the SADC over the next 15 years is market integration,” South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aziz Pahad, said this week.
”This will encompass financial and capital-market integration and the extension of intra- and extra-regional trade,” he said.
Another important aspect of regional integration is the free movement of people within the SADC with an eye on promoting tourism and facilitating the crossing of spectators into South Africa during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
But a council of ministers’ meeting ahead of the main summit noted that ”its full implementation may take some time, as it involves a lot of decisions to be undertaken, including … procedural policies”, Lesotho’s Finance Minister, Timothy Thahane, said.
”The council thus urged SADC member states to consider, in the meantime, the relaxation of visa requirements among each other, which would increase intra-SADC tourism and general trade growth,” he said.
Discussions will also touch on subjects such as the Aids pandemic ravaging the region and measures to stem the spread of avian influenza.
Thahane said another matter needing attention is Africa’s declining influence in world institutions. ”African ministers of finance and economy also met in Mozambique on August 3 to 5 and made a recommendation to our heads of state and government to endorse the issue of protecting Africa’s voice and participation in the world arena.”
He said Africa’s voting share at world institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, has over years gone down, ”with respect to various quota increases”.
SADC executive secretary Tomaz Augusto Salomao on Wednesday agreed that the question of the 2006 Maseru Summit will be ”how to scale up” the implementation of the regional integration agenda in line with five priority areas: political stability, trade liberalisation, infrastructure development, food security and HIV/Aids.
The summit will also take a decision on the readmission of the Seychelles to the SADC.
Asked whether Zimbabwe — in the throes of nearly 1 000% inflation and serious shortages of food, fuel and foreign — would be on the agenda, Thahane said ”the heads of state often have a closed session … and they can be very frank with each other”.
”I am sure that in their discussions and private consultations they will exchange views on that topic.” — Sapa-AFP, Sapa