poverty and development · epa negotiations council noted that 31 december 2007 was the original...

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SADC STAKEHOLDERS meet in Mauritius inApril for high-level consultations on the pover-ty and development challenges facing the re-gion.

The SADC International Consultative Con-ference on Poverty and Development is a high-level, multi-stakeholder dialogue at ministeriallevel and involving senior business and civil so-ciety leaders from the region to engage in poli-cy dialogue, forge consensus, and reviewprogress of the SADC economic integrationagenda, with emphasis on poverty eradication.

The theme of the conference is “RegionalEconomic Integration: A Strategy for PovertyEradication towards Sustainable Development”and discussions will focus on strategies, com-mitments and resources needed to accelerateSADC's economic targets to facilitate imple-mentation of the UN Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs).

SADC Heads of State and Government willbe in attendance for the third day of the confer-ence to participate in a number of panel discus-

sions, together with selected Heads of State andGovernment from other regions of Africa, Asia,South America and Europe.

International Cooperating Partners (ICPs)have been invited to participate, at senior gov-ernment level.

The conference will have two main parts.The first part, on 18-19 April, will be the SADCConsultative Conference, which is a policy dia-logue that takes place every two years betweenSADC and ICPs. The second part is the SADCInternational Conference on Poverty and Devel-opment, at Summit level, and this will takeplace on 20 April 2008.

Civil society groups will hold a pre-confer-ence workshop on 16-17 April in Mauritius.

The international conference is expected tobe a milestone towards poverty eradication inthe region, and to lay the foundations for a newglobal partnership with SADC for this purpose.The conference will also assess the challengestoward achievement of the MDGs in the SADCregion.

continued on page 2

Poverty and Development

POLICY 3

POVERTY/

DEVELOPMENT 4-5

TRADE 6

ENERGY 7-10

BUSINESS/

INNOVATIONS 11

ELECTIONS 12

GENDER 13

COMMUNITY 14

EVENTS 15

HISTORY TODAY 16

Action on Energy

SADC COUNCIL of Min-isters has adopted meas-ures to address powershortfalls prevailing in theregion. Council noted thatduring this period, shortterm projects costing US$5billion will provide addi-tional power amounting to6,550 MW. Long term proj-ects with a capacity of44,000MW will be imple-mented between 2008-2025at a cost of US$41.5 billion. (See Energy review, page 7)

Bicycle taxi ferryingcross-border traders

55451DS_SadcEnglish16p 4/15/08 2:27 PM

continued from page 1 These targets include theestablishment of a SADC FreeTrade Area in 2008, and aCustoms Union by 2010,Common Market by 2015,Monetary Union by 2016 witha regional currency by 2018.

Salomão said “it is expect-ed that the conference willreaffirm SADC's regional in-tegration agenda as a neces-sary strategy to complementnational poverty strategiesfor fostering economicgrowth and the achievementof a sustainable developmentpattern.” �

the region called the RegionalIndicative Strategic Develop-ment Plan (RISDP), whichidentifies poverty as “one ofthe major development chal-lenge facing the SADC re-gion” and assigns top priorityto poverty eradication, achiev-ing sustainable economicgrowth, and deepening eco-nomic integration.

The RISDP identifies re-gional economic integrationas a key strategy for this ob-jective and sets targets fordeepening economic integra-tion.

Addressing journalists atthe launch ceremony of thefinal preparatory phase inMauritius a month before theconference, SADC ExecutiveSecretary Tomaz Salomão saidthe event is being held againstthe backdrop of serious pover-ty challenges in the region.

“About 45 percent of thepopulation in the SADC regionlives in abject poverty,” Sa-lomão said. “This is reflected inpoor social indicators such ashigh levels of malnutrition, il-literacy, unemployment, un-deremployment, declining lifeexpectancy and unsatisfactoryaccess to basic services and in-frastructure needed to sustainbasic human capacities.”

The scope of the conferenceis in the context of the SADCagenda as articulated in the1992 SADC Treaty which saysthat regional integration willbe pursued as the vehicle foraccelerating economic growth,eradicating poverty andachieving a sustainable pat-tern of development.

The World Summit for So-cial Development in 1995 de-fined absolute poverty as “acondition characterized by se-vere deprivation of basichuman needs, including food,safe drinking water, sanitationfacilities, health, shelter, edu-cation and information.”

The conference in Mauri-tius is expected to proposeand adopt a Regional PovertyReduction Framework (RPRF)with SMART targets and clearmonitoring and evaluationplans.

SMART targets are: Specif-ic, Measurable, Attainable, Re-

alistic and Time-bound.The consultations to-

ward this frameworkwill focus on innova-tive programmes and

time-specific tasks and actionsto strengthen national povertyreduction programmes and ac-celerate progress towardMDGs targets such as halvingby 2015 the number of peoplewho were living in absolutepoverty in 1990, as well asother education, health, gender,environment and infrastruc-ture goals.

The conference is expectedto launch the SADC PovertyObservatory, which is intendedto keep the poverty eradicationagenda in the forefront ofSADC's programme of action.

SADC expects to receiveconcrete pledges of technicaland financial support from theinternational community, de-velopment partners and theprivate sector in line with inter-national development commit-ments.

One objective of the Aprilconference is to re-mobilizethe international community,in particular the developedcountries, to meet their com-mitments to increasing thelevels of development aid.

The process leading to theconference has been wide-ranging with a number of re-search projects for key povertyreduction challenges andstrategies, stakeholders con-sultations at national level, aregional technical workshopand various policy meetings.Sub-themes of conference are: o trade including informal

cross-border trade; o infrastructure support; o education, skills and tech-

nologies; o strengthening the role of

agriculture, gender and de-velopment; and

o the economic cost of HIVand AIDS, malaria and tu-berculosis in the SADC re-gion.SADC is currently imple-

menting a long-term plan for

Poverty and Development

2 SADC TODAY April 2008

Revisiting the G8 Gleneagles commitments

THE G8 industrialized coun-tries reaffirmed, during their2005 Summit at Gleneagles inScotland, their commitmenttowards ensuring that the UNMillennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) will beachieved by 2015 as agreed.The MDGs include targets onreducing poverty, combatinghunger and disease, amongothers.

Progress towards meetingthese goals is expected to fea-ture in discussions at theSADC International Confer-ence on Poverty and Devel-opment in April 2008.

The commitments made bythe G8 at Gleneagles include: o Doubling of aid by 2010 -

an extra US$50 billionworldwide and US$25 bil-lion for Africa;

o Writing off immediatelythe debts of 18 of theworld's poorest countries,most of which are inAfrica. This was worthUS$40 billion in 2005, andas much as US$55 billionas more countries qualify;

o Commitment to end all ex-port subsidies, and to re-duce domestic subsidies,which distort world trade;

o Developing countrieswould “decide, plan andsequence their economicpolicies to fit with theirown development strate-gies, for which theyshould be accountable totheir people;”

o As close to universal accessto HIV and AIDS treatmentas possible by 2010;

o Funding for treatment andnets to combat malaria,saving the lives of over600,000 children every year;

o Full funding to totallyeradicate Polio from theworld;

o All children to have accessto good quality, free andcompulsory education andto basic health care by2015, free where a countrychooses to provide it;

o Although the comprehen-sive package agreed at Gle-neagles would have im-proved progress for Africatowards meeting the MDGs- a lot of these promiseshave remained on paper. If the SADC region is to

meet the MDGs by 2015, thenmuch more needs to be doneto meet and implement thesecommitments. �


April 2008 SADC TODAY 3

POLICY

THE SADC Council of Minis-ters is responsible for supervis-ing and monitoring the func-tions and development ofSADC, and ensuring that poli-cies are properly implemented,as well as making recommenda-tions for Summit. We highlightthe key issues discussed and de-cisions taken during the 28-29February Council held in Lusa-ka, Zambia.

COMESA-EAC-SADC Summit forOctober Some SADC Member States alsobelong to the Common Marketfor Eastern and Southern Africa(COMESA) or the East AfricanCommunity (EAC).

In view of the challenges pre-sented by overlapping member-ship of the three Regional Eco-nomic Communities (RECs), theSADC Summit in August 2007approved the convening of aTripartite Summit to promotedialogue on issues of commoninterest.

Following that decision,Council has approved a pro-posed agenda for the jointCOMESA-EAC-SADC Summittentatively scheduled for Octo-ber 2008 at a venue to be deter-mined. The proposed agendacentres on:o economic regional integra-

tion including the status oftrade liberalization; and in-frastructure support for re-gional integration and devel-opment; and

o geo-political issues wherematters relating to coopera-tion with the EuropeanUnion and overlappingmembership among RECswill be considered.

EPA negotiationsCouncil noted that 31 December2007 was the original deadlinefor the conclusion of WorldTrade Organisation (WTO) com-patible Economic PartnershipAgreements (EPAs) between the

EU and African, Caribbean andPacific (ACP) regions thatwould become effective on 1January 2008. The WTO waiveralso expired on 31 December.

To prevent trade disruptionfor goods destined to the Euro-pean market owing to the expiryof the waiver, some MemberStates - Botswana, Lesotho,Mozambique, Namibia andSwaziland -- negotiating underthe SADC umbrella initialled anInterim Economic PartnershipAgreement (IEPA) with the EU.Namibia initialled with reserva-tions on some of the provisionsof the agreement.

The other Member States arenegotiating under the East andSouthern Africa (ESA) group.

The interim agreement is ex-pected to come into force by 1July 2008 once ratified by all therelevant parties. To facilitate thecompletion of all outstandingwork with respect to signature,ratification and entry into forceof the IEPA, Council approvedthe convening of a high-leveltechnical workshop not laterthan 30 March 2008.

Energy situationHaving reviewed the status ofpower generation capacity inthe region and considering thereport of the 20-21 February2008 meeting of the Energy Min-isterial Task Force, Council man-dated the SADC Secretariat to li-aise with Member States in ex-ploring alternative low-costsources of energy to address thecurrent shortages.

Council also adopted emer-gency short-term and long-termmeasures to address currentpower shortfalls.

Concerning the power sectorgrowth and sustainability,Council noted that an enablingenvironment is required to stim-ulate private sector participa-tion and additional investmentin the sector, which calls for har-monized national electricity pol-

icy frameworks and acceleratingsector reforms as well as imple-menting principles of cost-re-flective tariff structures.

These would allow utilitiesand Independent Power Pro-ducers to recover productioncosts and facilitate re-capitaliza-tion to sustain existing powernetworks.

Expressing concern on theshortage of finance for invest-ment in the power sector, Coun-cil directed the Secretariat to ex-plore financing models thatwould facilitate joint financingand development of cross-bor-der power sector projects.

Council also directed theSADC Ministers responsible forEnergy to review the pace of im-plementation of projects and re-port back on progress made. (See pages 5-7 for update on Ener-gy issues).

Emergency situationsIn the wake of persistent emer-gency situations in the region,Council directed the Secretariatto operationalise the DisasterManagement Unit as approvedin 2001. This will enable the re-gion to consolidate disastermanagement efforts.

Council noted the devastat-ing effects caused by extensiveflooding in DRC, Malawi,Mozambique, Namibia, Swazi-land, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Angola and Namibia experi-enced drought conditions insome regions while Madagascarexperienced devastating cy-clones.

DRC has also been affectedby an earthquake in the Kivu re-gion which caused fatalities anddamage to property.

Poverty and development conferenceCouncil expressed satisfactionon preparations for the SADC In-ternational Conference on Pover-ty and Development set for 18-20April in Mauritius under the

theme “Regional Economic Inte-gration: A Strategy for PovertyEradication Towards SustainableDevelopment.”

Council noted that in addi-tion to serving as a platform forpolicy dialogue, the expectedoutcome of the conference in-cludes a SADC Poverty Obser-vatory and a Regional PovertyReduction Framework. (Seecover story)

Upcoming electionsIn view of a busy 2008/2009election calendar, Council notedthat SADC remains committedto ensuring that all the electoralprocesses take place within theauspices of the SADC Principlesand Guidelines Governing De-mocratic Elections to sustainpeace, stability and security. Twocountries holding elections in2008 are Zimbabwe (29 March)and Angola (September) whileBotswana, Malawi, Mozam-bique, Namibia and South Africawill go to polls in 2009.

2008-2009 Budget For the financial year 2008/2009,a budget of US$49,984,279 wasapproved. Member States willcontribute US$24,770,000 to-wards the budget while Interna-tional Cooperating Partnersgrants will amount toUS$24,534,279 while the remain-der, that is, US$680,000 will comefrom other sources.

Job evaluation Following a job evaluation overthe past year, Council approveda new management structure forthe SADC Secretariat which in-cludes new positions of DeputyExecutive Secretary for RegionalIntegration and a Director forBudget and Finance. Implemen-tation will commence after com-pletion of the skills audit of in-cumbent staff, and will be instrict adherence to the quota-based system and equitable gen-der representation. �

Review of 2008 Council Decisions


POVE

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schemes; lack of reliable trans-port; weak associations; and agenerally unfavourable policyand regulatory environment.

The study notes that thatwhile national and regionalpolicy initiatives, in particularthe SADC Trade Protocol, por-tray intra-regional trade as animportant way of spurringeconomic development andpoverty reduction, such poli-cies have largely ignored thegrowing significance of smallscale cross border trade.

Thus one of the key recom-mendations is the need for a re-gionally recognised CommonTrader's Licence which wouldaddress the problem of crimi-nalization of ICBTs in MemberStates as well as work as an in-centive for traders to declaretheir activities for official traderecords, among other positives.

The findings further re-vealed that ICBT contributessignificantly to the well-beingof citizens and if deliberatesteps are taken to create an en-abling policy and regulatoryenvironment, the sector canhave a positive impact to-wards the attainment of Mil-lennium Development Goals.

Not only does ICBT ensureemployment creation and in-come generation especially forpeople who are unable to findformal employment due to var-

ious social and economic rea-sons; but also plays an impor-tant role in ensuring food secu-rity by moving agricultural pro-duce and other foodstuffsacross borders.

Further, ICBT is a keysource of empowerment forwomen who constitute themajority. The findings showedthat on average over 70 per-cent of informal cross bordertraders are women who couldeither be widowed, divorcedor who simply undertake thisbusiness to supplement theirhusbands' incomes.

However, ICBT has its ownundesirable implications pri-marily because it can providefertile ground for a myriad ofillicit economic and social prac-tices, concludes the study.These include drug trafficking;smuggling for example of pre-cious minerals such as gold, di-amonds, etc; customs and taxevasion thus depriving govern-ments of potential revenue; ille-gal currency trading.

ICBT has also contributedto violation of health, sani-tary and environmental re-quirements through mishan-dling by unqualified person-nel, as well as breakdown offamilies often due to long ab-sence from home by eitherspouse. The latter has result-ed in a high incidence of di-

INFORMAL CROSS BorderTrade (ICBT) is a key livelihoodin southern Africa and manypeople are making a decent liv-ing from this type of business,according to a recent surveydone in six SADC MemberStates.

ICBT, largely driven bySmall, Medium and Micro En-terprises (SMMEs), is oftenperceived as not only econom-ically non-viable but also associally undesirable.

The study reveals thatsmall-scale cross border trade,commonly referred to as ICBT,has become a profitable enter-prise for many citizens to theextent that some have electedto leave formal employment toconcentrate on their operations.

However, most policy-mak-ers at the national and regionallevels continue to ignore thisform of trade, argues the study,and thus ICBT flows do not ap-pear in official trade statistics.This leads to a situation whereofficial trade flows are under-stated.

Furthermore, ICBT is oftenstigmatized and suffers fromstereotypes of smuggling andlack of interest occasioned bylack of data commonly due tothe secretive nature of small-scale cross border trade.

Despite the lack of data,some estimates have put ICBTat between 30 to 40 percent ofintra-SADC trade, suggestingthat by ignoring informaltraders, SADC member statescould be overlooking a signifi-cant proportion of their trade.

The survey was motivatedby the need to better under-stand the dynamics of ICBT insouthern Africa and offer rec-ommendations to facilitate pol-

icy responses and meas-ures that are pro-poor.

The study definedinformal cross bordertrade as “consisting ofeasily observablegoods that are traded

across countries either byavoiding customs points orpassing through the customspoints but with intentionallyundervalued declarations.”

It notes that informal tradersare a diverse group dominatedby women and generally com-prising the vulnerable, unem-ployed, orphans, refugees, theyouth, school leavers and wid-ows among others.

Based on interviews car-ried out in selected capitalcities and border points of sixSADC member states -Malawi, Mozambique, SouthAfrica, Tanzania, Zambia andZimbabwe -- the study high-lights a number of challengesfaced by SMMEs as they con-duct cross border trade.

Among the obstacles is lackof recognition of ICBT as a formof business which often leads tocriminalisation of SMMEs byauthorities as well as harass-ment and all forms of abuse.

Other challenges includedifficulties in obtaining pass-ports and visas; being refusedentry into countries that maynot require visas; excessivecustoms charges; unwarrant-ed impounding of goods; un-fair treatment of traders assmugglers and drug traffick-ers; numerous check-points;humiliating body searches;limited access to formal credit


Cross border trade is booming across southern Africa -

Small-scale cross border trade contributes siginificantly to the SADC economy



POVERTY / D

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vorce often leading to singleparent families headed bywomen.

The study thus urgesMember States to remain vig-ilant and employ more inno-vative ways of fighting illicittrade practices so as to flushout smugglers and drug traf-fickers from well-meaningICBTs.

The study was done by theSouthern African Researchand Documentation Centre(SARDC) with support fromthe Southern Africa Trust andwas undertaken as part of theprocess leading to the SADCInternational ConsultativeConference on Poverty andDevelopment. �

REGIONAL CIVIL societyorganisations are to meet inMauritius in a final prepara-tory pre-conference work-shop ahead of the SADC con-ference on poverty to thrashout a common position.

The two-day meeting on16-17 April will afford thecivil society organisations anopportunity to technicallyprepare delegates who willparticipate more effectivelyas they articulate the broadercivil society mandate.

Ahead of the pre-confer-ence workshop and the con-ference itself, the regional civilsociety organisations held aseries of national and regionalmeetings which resulted inthe production of three mainplatform position papers:o Civil Society Regional

Poverty and DevelopmentAdvocacy Platform: discus-sion document;

o Southern African Civil So-ciety Declaration on theEradication of Poverty forthe SADC Conference onPoverty and Development;and

o Southern African Civil So-ciety Poverty AdvocacyProgramme of Action.The pre-conference work-

shop will allow civil societygroups to prepare and agree oncommon positions so as topresent a collective approachand strategies on the agendaitems for the discussion, as wellas developing a cohesive mes-sage for the SADC Conference.

The conference held underthe theme “Regional Econom-ic Integration: A strategy forpoverty eradication and de-velopment” is to discuss awide range of poverty and de-velopment challenges facingthe region.

However, the overarchingobjective of the SADC confer-ence is to improve andstrengthen the anti-povertycommitments of the RegionalIndicative Strategic Develop-ment Plan, and establish com-plementary structures to sup-port regional poverty focus.

The civil society organisa-tions have been encouraged toengage and sensitise their re-spective governments anddelegates to Mauritius ontheir positions.

Selected organisations havebeen mandated to engage withSADC Secretariat and the na-tional task team in Mauritius re-sponsible for the conference. �

Civil society prepare for dialoguewith SADC

THE MOZAMBICAN gov-ernment has adopted plans toreduce the country's povertyrate to 45 percent by 2009through the creation of morejobs in the agricultural sector.

Currently some 54 percentout of the estimated 20 millionpopulation live below thepoverty line.

The drive to cut the povertyrates through the establishmentof small and medium business-es in agriculture is in line withtargets set in the country's 2005-

2009 Poverty Reduction Strate-gy (known simply as Parpa).

The emphasis on agricul-ture is part of a nationwidestrategy to boost agriculturalproduction. This “Green Revo-lution” will see the supply ofimproved seeds and fertilizersto peasant farmers, effectiveand sustainable use of waterresources, as well as marketingand commercialization.

Government hopes thateventually peasant farmerswill be transformed into com-

mercial farmers. To this end,there is a strategy in place tosimplify business proceduresand remove red tape that en-cumbers the starting of a busi-ness.

Government is currently al-locating US$205 million to thecountry's 128 districts in orderto empower and foster entre-preneurial spirit.

Between 1999-2004 govern-ment managed to reduce thepoverty rate by five percent, to54 percent. �

Mozambique to further reduce poverty rates

frica - study

Poverty and development challenges to be discussed in Mauritius


TRAD

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WITH A few months remainingbefore the inauguration of theSADC Free Trade Area, finalpreparations are being made forthis historic launch, expected tocoincide with the SADC Summitin August 2008.

At the core of the Free TradeArea (FTA) is economic liberal-ization including the lifting oftariffs and non-tariff barriers.This process has been ongoingsince 2000 when implementa-tion of the SADC Trade Protocol

came into force as the legalframework within which theFTA is to be achieved.

At the start of 2008, MemberStates were effecting new tariffregimes signalling the penulti-mate stages of the gradual elim-ination of customs barriers thatstarted eight years ago.

All SADC Member States areapplying the Trade Protocol, withthe exception of Angola and theDemocratic Republic of Congo(DRC) who have asked for moretime before joining the FTA.

The protocol provides forasymmetrical trade liberalizationbased on the level of economicdevelopment in each country.

The Member States haveagreed to liberalize 85 percent ofintra-SADC trade by 2008 whileliberalizing all sensitive products,which constitute the remaining15 percent, by 2012. These in-clude textiles and clothing, sugar,dairy products, chemicals andplastics, and motor vehicles.

In 2004 SADC undertook aMid Term Review which cameup with a number of recommen-dations including ensuring thattariff phase-downs are effectedon 1 January of each year as animportant step towards achiev-ing the FTA within the agreedtimelines.

However, not all MemberStates are up-to-date in terms ofimplementing their commit-ments, and they are expected togear up if they are to be readyby August.

South Africa, which takesover the rotating SADC chair inAugust, is preparing to host theSummit.

The SADC Regional Indica-tive Strategic DevelopmentPlan envisages the creation of aFree Trade Zone as from 2008,followed by a Customs Unionin 2010, a Common Market by2015 and a Monetary Unionwith a single currency by2018. �

THE SADC Secretariat has an-nounced the death of NokokureMurangi, the Director of Trade,Industry, Finance and Invest-ment (TIFI) who tragicallypassed away in a car accident onGood Friday, 21 March 2008. Hewas driving alone along theTrans Kalahari Highway nearLone Tree, about 150 km fromGhantsi, Botswana. Murangiwas laid to rest in his homecountry, Namibia. Murangijoined the SADC Secretariat in2005, having worked in the Min-istry of Industry and Trade, andhe was actively directing the

ZAMBIA PLANS to construct arailway line from its mineral-rich Copperbelt province to theborder with Angola to link upwith the Benguela railway line.

Zambian President and cur-rent SADC Chairperson, LevyMwanawasa, said he is deter-mined to see the fruition of theconstruction of a railway linefrom Chingola on the Copper-belt to Lumwana copper mineand then to Angola before histenure of office comes to an endin 2011.

Zambian officials say the firstphase of the railway link to An-gola will involve the constructionof 245 km of railway between the

new mining town of Solweziand Chingola in the north-western region.

The privately ownedNorthwest Railwayssaid in 2007 it had se-cured US$250 million in

financing from investors in SouthAfrica, Britain and the UnitedStates for the rail project.Mwanawasa said the railway linewould enhance trade betweenthe two nations, the DemocraticRepublic of Congo and othercountries in southern Africa.

He said Zambia is also keento construct a road networkfrom its northwestern town of

Kalabo to Angola to boost trade.“Zambia has since embarked onan ambitious programme toconstruct rail and road infra-structure linking Zambia withAngola in a bid to promotetrade between the two nationsand beyond,” he said during avisit to Angola in March.

The Benguela line used torun through Angola to the Zam-

bian border, but was badly dam-aged during the decades-longcivil war in the oil-rich nation.Noting that Angola offered theclosest route to the sea for land-locked Zambia, Mwanawaa saidresuscitation of the railway linkbetween the two countrieswould significantly slash trans-action costs for Zambian ex-porters. (ZANIS) �

process toward launch of theSADC Free Trade Area, expect-ed in August this year. May hissoul rest in peace and his workbe honoured through effectiveimplementation of the FTA. �

SADC TIFI Director dies

Zambia eyes rail link to boost trade with Angola


Free Trade Area enters penultimate stage

Benguela rail link offers shortest trade route to the west coast

Nokokure Murangi


Power conservationpivotal for SADC

preference for the Compact Fluo-rescent Lights (CFLs).

CFLs provide the same bright-ness as incandescent lights butuse less than half the power.

The programme also entailsthe “optimization of energy as amatter of necessity” with meas-ures that include a 10-percent re-duction in consumption throughrationing, power-buy-backarrangements and penalties.

The ministers welcomedSouth Africa's Eskom commit-ment to continue supplyingpower to other SADC MemberStates, albeit 10 percent less thanpreviously agreed in line with itsown programme of reducing sup-ply to consumers by the samemargin.

SADC Council noted that themeasures had “already startedpaying dividends where theyhave been implemented in the re-gion.”

In most South African cities,the government and local author-ities have discovered that some ofthe biggest energy-saving oppor-tunities exist when buildings arebeing constructed or renovated.

One such example was theCape Town Inn, which was reno-

vated with the assistance ofEskom. The renovations includedreplacing existing distributionand metering boards, installingnew high-tech water heating sys-tem, replacing old lights withnew energy saving ones. As a re-sult of these changes, the energysaving costs per room were re-duced by half.

Lesotho, Malawi, Mozam-bique, Namibia, South Africa,Zambia and Zimbabwe are in-volved in a Biomass Energy Con-servation (BEC) programme, fi-nanced by the German Agencyfor Technical Co-operation.

The BEC programme, whichencourages the use of renewablesources of energy in local commu-nities has shown that with a com-prehensive package of solutionsand use of energy-efficient de-vices, it is feasible to achieve mul-tiple, long-lasting benefits at re-gional level.

Other countries have turned tosolar energy, which is in abun-dance in the region. Faced withmassive shortages of power, SouthAfrica is building a 100MW powerplant in Johannesburg, entirelypowered by the sun to add to itspower grid within the next year.

THERE IS a growing realisation inthe region that the current energyshortfalls will be around for sometime, prompting Member States toadopt conservation programmesto reduce electricity demand.

SADC Council of Ministershas approved a regional powerconservation programme to facili-tate Demand Side Management(DSM), following recommenda-tions by a ministerial task force onenergy.

The SADC Energy MinisterialTask Force (EMTF) on Implemen-tation of Power Sector Pro-gramme decided to formulateand implement a SADC pro-gramme on power conservationand develop a SADC policy to en-sure efficient use of electrical en-ergy.

They agreed, at an emergencymeeting held in Botswana in Feb-ruary, that a power conservationprogramme must be prepared byJune 2008.

The SADC road map includesthe development of minimum en-ergy efficiency standard for allnew electrical connections, imple-mentation of renewable energytechnologies, and the phasing outof incandescent light bulbs in

Namibia is subsidising the in-stallation of solar systems for do-mestic use and there are plans toroll out a solar heating pro-gramme for all government hous-es by 2009.

Besides being convenient forrural populations who cannot af-ford to pay monthly bills, solar-powered electricity is cheaper inthe long term and can ease pres-sure on the SADC region's over-stretched energy requirements.

DSM started in Brazil in thelate 1970s when the country wasfaced with a critical power short-age, and government implement-ed legislation that encouragedthe efficient use of energy. Themost successful initiatives werethe minimum efficiency stan-dards for appliances and indus-trial motors.

In all their efforts however, in-formation to the consumer waspivotal in achieving success.

Thus there is need for all coun-tries in the SADC region to rollout efficient electricity communi-cation campaigns nationwide, in-cluding distribution of CFLs, asthese campaigns can be success-ful if customers are made part ofthe solution, not the problem. �

E1


COMMUNIQUE

SADC ENERGY MINISTERIAL TASK FORCE

ON IMPLEMENTATION OF POWER SECTOR PROJECTS

GABORONE, BOTSWANA, 21 FEBRUARY 2008

The SADC Energy Ministerial Task Force (EMTF) on Implementa-

tion of Power Sector Programmes convened an emergency meet-

ing at Boipuso Hall in Gaborone, Botswana on the 21st February

2008. In the absence of the Chairperson of SADC EMTF, the

Minister of Mines and Energy of the Republic of Namibia, Mr.

Erikki Nghimtina, the meeting was Chaired by Honourable

Michael Nyambuya, Minister of Energy and Power Development

of the Republic of Zimbabwe and opened by Honourable P. H.

K. Kedikilwe, Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources,

Botswana. The Executive Secretary of SADC, H.E. Dr. Tomaz Sa-

lomao also gave brief remarks on the status of the power supply

situation in the SADC region.

The Ministerial Task Force meeting was preceded by prepara-

tory meetings of the members of the Southern African Power

Pool (SAPP), the Regional Electricity Regulators Association

(RERA) and other parties on 19th February 2008 and Senior En-

ergy Officials on 20th February 2008.

The Ministers registered their recognition of the high electrici-

ty demand which has outstripped supply due to, among other

factors, the positive economic growth which averaged about

5% in most of the SADC Member States and rural electrifica-

tion projects in most Member States.

SADC HAS adopted a road map toaccelerate the region's recovery fromthe current power shortages, stress-ing the need for clear milestones andtimeframes to measure implementa-tion. Recognizing that the region is ina power emergency situation, SADCdecided to formulate and implementa SADC programme on power con-servation and to develop a SADCpolicy to ensure efficient use of elec-trical energy. The SADC Energy Min-isterial Task Force (EMTF) on Imple-mentation of Power Sector Pro-grammes, which convened an emer-gency meeting in Gaborone,Botswana in February, adopted sup-ply and demand management initia-tives, as well as the effective use of in-terconnectors.

The recommendations of theSADC Energy Ministerial TaskForce (EMTF) on Implementation of

Power Sector Programme were ap-proved by full Council of Ministerswhich met later in February in Lusa-ka, Zambia. Key results of the TaskForce meeting are as follows. It wasagreed that: o SADC is to formulate and imple-

ment a regional programme onpower conservation and to devel-op a SADC policy to ensure effi-cient use of electrical energy.

o SADC and the Southern AfricanPower Pool (SAPP) would as-sume direct responsibility for co-ordinating and monitoring proj-ect implementation, and thatMember States should make fulluse of project preparation facili-ties to package projects.

o A study will be commissioned torecommend a financing modelfor cross-border projects, and tofollow up on international

pledges made to finance region-al projects under the New Part-nership for Africa's Develop-ment (NEPAD).

o There is need to accelerate privatesector participation and increaseinvestment in the power sector,and to take action toward achiev-ing an enabling environment.Council noted the short-term

measures instituted by MembersStates and SAPP to overcome the di-minished surplus of installed capaci-ty and the expected impact of thesemeasures, including the recoveryplan developed by the South Africanutility, Eskom, and the power capaci-ty availed by Mozambique for exportto the rest of the region.

It was agreed that the regionshould work towards the harmo-nization of national electricity poli-cy frameworks, and to accelerate the

pace of electricity supply industryreforms to improve governance andperformance.

Council agreed to develop andimplement the necessary nationalpolicies and promulgate legislation toensure the promotion of power con-servation practices, and to provide fi-nancial and fiscal incentives to theutilities for demand-side manage-ment.

The recapitalization of power util-ities would be achieved through theadoption and implementation ofcost-reflective tariffs to allow the util-ities and Independent Power Produc-ers to recover production costs.

The EMTF had noted that, in ad-dition to issues of supply and de-mand, the power sector is facing ad-ditional challenges in financing ofpower projects and institutionalarrangements for implementation. �

SADC Road Map to address power shortages

The Ministers noted the current status of power supply withinthe region, which has an installed capacity of 54,742 MW ofwhich only 46,391 MW is available. Although new generationamounting to 1,810 MW has been commissioned in the regionin 2007, the reserve margin is still in deficit against a requiredreserve margin of 10.2%. The situation will continue until2013 when all planned generation projects are commissioned.The Ministers reviewed the status of implementation of SAPPgeneration, transmission and interconnector projects whichare categorized as rehabilitation and related infrastructure,short term, medium term and long term projects. These proj-ects require a total of US$46.4 billion. In addition to theseprojects, the Ministers noted progress made on the WesternCorridor Project (WESTCOR).The Ministers took cognizance of the proposed short-term meas-ures being instituted by Member States and SAPP to overcomethe diminished surplus installed capacity and the expected im-pact of these measures on the power supply situation. Thesemeasures include respective utilities' short term projects,ESKOM's Recovery plan and power capacity being availed byMozambique for export to the rest of the region. The Task Forcenoted that ESKOM through the Recovery Plan has achieved a10% load reduction in South Africa, a reduction of power sup-plied through bilateral contracts by 10% and a saving of 600 MWin ESKOM demand specifically in the Western Cape. In Mozam-bique the Ministers noted that HCB has recently concluded a re-habilitation project on all units, resulting in the availability of theunits increased to 90%, which has released 300MW to be usedon non-firm basis to alleviate the crisis that the region is facing. Following the understanding that the SADC region is undergo-ing a power emergency situation, the Ministerial Task Forceadopted a road map to accelerate the region's recovery fromthis power shortage through ensuring the effective connectivi-ty of the interconnectors, as well as Supply Side and DemandSide Management initiatives as follows:

E2


posed measures so that their status of implementation is meas-

urable. In their reaffirmation for the support for the proposed

measures the Task Force took note of the report of the SADC Sec-

retariat on the Madagascar Power Sector and that the proposed

solutions for Madagascar are very similar to those made for the

rest of the SADC Member States.The Task Force noted with appreciation the reassurance by South

Africa that she will honour her contractual obligations with re-

gard to the power supply to the rest of the region. In conclusion and following the offer by RSA to host the next

Energy Ministerial Task Force Meeting at a date to be deter-

mined during the SADC Energy Ministers meeting to be held

30th April 2008 in DRC, the Ministerial Task Force conveyed

their appreciation to the People and Government of Botswana

for the conducive environment which led to the successful

outcome of the meeting, the SADC Secretariat and the Min-

istry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources of Botswana for

the preparations they made for the meeting and all the stake-

holders for their continued support.Boipuso Hall, Gaborone, 21 February 2008

o A Power Conservation Programme (PCP) be formulated andimplemented as a SADC programme

o a SADC policy be developed to ensure efficient use of elec-trical energy;

o development of a minimum energy efficiency standard forall new electrical connections

o phasing out of incandescent light bulbs in preference toCompact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs)

o direct the recapitalization of power utilitieso implementation of renewable energy technologies

In addition to the initiatives above, the Ministerial Task Forcenoted that an enabling environment is indispensable to accel-erate private sector participation and additional investment inthe power sector. In order to achieve an enabling environmentthe SAPP will i) work towards the harmonization of national electricity pol-

icy frameworks;ii) accelerate the pace of Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) re-

forms to improve governance and performance;iii) develop and implement the necessary national policies and

promulgate legislation that will ensure:o promotion of power conservation practices;o provide financial and fiscal incentives to the Utilities for Demand-Side Management (DSM)

iv) adopt and implement principles of cost reflective tariffs toallow utilities and Independent Power Producers (IPP) to re-cover production costs and allow for recapitalization.

The Ministerial Task Force noted that in addition to the supplyside and demand side issues, the power sector is facing addi-tional challenges in financing of power projects and institu-tional arrangements for implementation. The Ministers there-fore agreed on the following actions:

1) Commission a study to recommend a financing model for cross border projects2) SADC/SAPP to assume a direct responsibility for

coordinating and monitoring project implementation3) Member States should make full use of project

preparation facilities to package projects4) SADC should follow up on international pledges made

to finance NEPAD regional projects

The Ministerial Task Force considered and approved structuresfor implementing projects, which include SADC Ministers re-sponsible for Energy with ultimate oversight on the Power Sec-tor Projects Road Map, the Energy Ministerial Task Force, to re-view the pace of implementation of projects; the SADC Secre-tariat Project Coordination Unit, to be responsible for strategiccoordination of implementation of infrastructure projects,which includes, project development, packaging, monitoringand reporting process in conjunction with the Member States,SAPP, RERA and Key International Partners. Project Teams andProject Steering Committees will undertake day to day imple-mentation and review of specific projects.

In addition to the above structures, the Ministerial Task Forceagreed to strengthen SAPP to ensure that it has adequate ca-pacity to facilitate the implementation of the Roadmap; andRERA to undertake capacity building within the regulatory andinstitutional framework to ensure that an enabling environmentcontinues to obtain. In addition SAPP and RERA was givennew mandate to champion regional power projects in con-junction with Member States.

The Ministerial Task Force underscored the importance of the pro-posed measures as a response to address the emergency situa-tion. They impressed upon the SADC Secretariat, SAPP andRERA, supported by the utilities and other cooperating partners,the need to have clear milestones and timeframes for the pro-

SAPP grid operating as threeseparate islandsTHE SOUTHERN African Power Pool (SAPP) is workinground the clock to reintegrate the regional grid which is cur-rently working as three separate “islands” owing to technicalfaults on the main interconnectors.

Presenting a status report on the region's power grid tothe SADC energy ministerial task force in February, theSAPP Co-ordination Centre Manager, Lawrence Musaba,said a total of 14 disturbances were recorded on the SAPPgrid in the period January to February 2008.

The disturbances occurred on 19-21 January and 2-3 Febru-ary, leaving Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana in darkness.

This resulted in the SAPP grid operating as three separate“islands.” The problem was further aggravated by the fact thatgovenor settings at Kariba North Bank (KNB) and KaribaSouth Bank (KSB) were set differently, 55Hz for ZESAand60Hzfor ZESCOand as a result, ZESA was experiencingtrip-pings on govenorover-speeding while ZESCOwas experienc-ing trippingson over-frequency.

The “islands” are:o Zambia-Democratic Republic of Congo (ZESCO and

SNEL)o Zimbabwe-Mozambique (ZESA and EDM/HCB)o South Africa (Eskom, BPC, EDM, LEC, SEB and Nam-

Power)This situation deprived some Member States of the elec-

tricity purchased from other countries that should be trans-mitted via the regional grid.

SAPP pointed out that it is “studying the problem to comeup with a technical solution” with a view to “bringing back theinterconnected network as quickly and as safely as possible.”

SAPP is in talks with Eskom, ZESCO and ZESA so that theindividual utilities can give updates on progress.

Musaba said SAPP was given 60 days by the SADC Min-isterial Task Force on Energy to resolve this issue and to re-store the interconnected grid. �

E3


CURRENT POWER short-ages facing the SADC regioncould pose a serious threat tothe region's journey towardsachieving its Millennium De-velopment Goal (MDG) com-mitments, according to theSouthern Africa Trust.

Power outages in coun-tries such as Zimbabwe,Zambia and South Africahave affected the way peoplelive and conduct business.

The Trust noted that “theprovision of reliable andsustainable energy at the

The Southern AfricanPower Pool (SAPP) advisedSADC Member States asearly as 1999 that demandfor power in southern Africawas increasing at the rate ofabout three percent perannum due to increased eco-nomic activities and up-scal-ing of electrification pro-grammes while investmentinto both power generationand transmission infrastruc-ture remained stagnant.

SAPP said then that un-less immediate action wastaken, blackouts could beexpected in the region in2007/8.

Regional integration advi-sor at SAT, Themba Mhlongo,said the objective of provid-ing affordable energy servic-es to rural communitiesthrough increased access tomodern energy technologieswould remain a distant hopeunless more was done to pri-oritise investments in elec-tricity generation and trans-mission capacity.

Although SADC prioritiesin the energy sector increasedaccess to modern energy es-pecially in rural communi-ties, biomass such as fuel-wood and cow dung are stillthe primary sources for up to80 percent of total energyconsumption for families andinformal businesses in mostsouthern African countries.

The Southern Africa Trustis an independent, regional,non-profit agency establishedto support deeper and widerengagement in policy dia-logue to overcome poverty insouthern Africa. �

lowest cost for economicand social development canbe a major contributor to theeradication of poverty in thesouthern Africa region.”

It further noted that theprovision of electricity tokey public facilities such asclinics and schools was es-sential to meeting some ofthe region's MDG goals.

SADC countries havebeen struggling to meet de-mand for electricity causedby a rapidly expanding re-gional economy.

Power shortages threaten MDGs

Construction of Inga III dam tostart in 2009CONSTRUCTION OF theInga Phase Three hydropow-er plant in the Democratic Re-public of Congo (DRC) is ex-pected to start in 2009 at atotal cost of US$3.6 billion.

A pre-feasibility study by aCanadian firm said the con-struction work will be carriedout in two phases.

The first phase runs from2009 to 2013 followed by asecond phase from 2014 to2021.

The launch of the giantInga Falls electricity project isone of several SADC initia-tives planned to ensure sus-tainable energy supply in a re-gion that has faced persistentpower shortages since lastyear.

The Western Power Corri-dor (Westcor) project, draw-ing electricity from Inga, is ex-pected to provide 35,000 MWof power, initially targeted atAngola, Botswana, DRC,Namibia and South Africa.

The Inga Falls project is be-lieved to be the largest singlehydropower initiative in theworld and, when operating atfull capacity, is expected tosurpass Mozambique's Caho-ra Bassa.

Cahora Bassa is one ofAfrica's biggest hydroelectricstations, producing an esti-mated 2,500 MW.

Botswana courts SADC partners in oil pipeline project

BOTSWANA IS courtingcoastal SADC countries as itsearches for cost-effectiveways of transporting fuelinto the country.

One of the options beingpursued is the constructionof a giant underground oilpipeline linking the land-locked country to the sea.

The country's Ministryof Minerals, Energy andWater Resources has beenholding consultations withMozambique, South Africaand Namibia to establishwhere to build thepipeline.

Acting Department of En-ergy Affairs director, ButiMogotsi, said the plan toconstruct the pipelineshould be finalised by June.

Botswana relies on fuelfrom neighbouring SouthAfrica and consumes 800million litres a year fromSouth African-based refiner-ies owned by multinationaloil companies.

Under the currentarrangement, fuel destinedfor Botswana is ferried bytrucks and trains, a mode oftransport that has proveduneconomical and unsafe. �

Malawi to commission uranium mine COMMISSIONING OFMalawi's first uranium mineis expected to take place atthe end of the year, with ac-tual production of the min-eral set for early 2009.

The Kayelekera mine willbe the country's first urani-um-producing mine and willhave a capacity of 3.3-millionpounds of uranium oxide an-nually, according to the Aus-tralian mining company thatowns an 85 percent stake inKayelekera and also has in-terests in uranium mining inNamibia. The remainder ofthe shareholding is owned bythe Malawi government.

Malawi joins other SADCMember States that have in-dicated plans to developuranium mining projects forelectricity generation. Theseinclude Namibia, Botswanaand Zimbabwe.

South Africa is the onlySADC country that is al-ready using uranium to pro-duce electricity at its Koe-berg power station in CapeTown. �

DRC has a vast hy-dropower potential of morethan 100,000 MW. About44,000 MW of that is found atthe Inga Falls and over 56,000MW at other sites scatteredacross the country.

An earlier pre-feasibilitystudy carried out by the DRCstate-run electricity company,SNEL, showed that the firstphase of the Inga Phase Threeproject would meet the ener-gy needs of southern, north,and west Africa. �

E4 Energy in Southern Africa is produced with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs


THE GOOD times are rollingagain for Mauritius' clothingand textile sector after morethan two years of languishing inthe doldrums, thanks to self-be-lief and an undying desire to seethe industry succeed.

A never-say-die attitude hasseen the Mauritians quickly re-grouping after suffering amajor setback in 2006 follow-ing the removal of preferentialtrade benefits with the Euro-pean Union (EU).

For about 40 years, Mauri-tius had benefited from non-re-ciprocal trade preferencesunder successive conventionssigned with European states.

But in the current era of liber-alized trade the SADC MemberState suddenly found theseagreements falling away, leavingthe island with no choice but toconsolidate its economic pillars -sugar, textiles and clothing,tourism and services - while de-veloping new ones such asseafood to survive in this global-ized world.

THE STATE-OWNED SouthAfrican power utility Eskom isnegotiating to buy more elec-tricity from Mozambique's Ca-hora Bassa Dam power stationin a bid to ease an energy short-age threatening Africa's largesteconomy. Chief Executive JacobMaroga said that Eskom, thesole national electricity supplierin South Africa, is negotiating topurchase an additional 250megawatts per day.

Mozambique currently pro-vides 1,100 MW of power toEskom, which has been forcedto cut power across South Africasince the beginning of the year.The resulting blackouts causedlarge mines to shut down forfive days and raised fears of aneconomic slowdown. �

THE UNITED Republic of Tan-zania has signed a US$48 millionloan and grant agreement withthe African Development Bank(AfDB) to finance the country'selectricity expansion pro-gramme. The funds will be usedto secure, improve and extendsustainable supply of power tobusinesses and households inrural towns and suburban areasin Mwanza, Shinyanga, Arushaand Dar es Salaam regions.

The United Republic of Tan-zania boasts ample power-gen-erating sources but so far about90 percent of its rural populationand 30 percent of its urban resi-dents do not have access to reli-able and affordable electricity. �

THERE IS light at the end ofthe tunnel - but it is not beinggenerated by the national elec-tricity supplier Eskom, ratherby revolutionary solar-pow-ered technology developed byUniversity of Johannesburgprofessor, Vivian Alberts.

Alberts has spent the past 13years developing highly ad-vanced photovoltaic, or thin-film, solar panels that could bethe solution to South Africa -and the region's - power short-ages. The panels are alreadybeing constructed by a technol-ogy company in Germany,and will go on sale in Europethis year, according to Alberts.Due to the construction of the

cells, comparatively highyields can be obtained evenunder partially shaded or over-cast conditions.

Alberts, said plans to makethe photovoltaic panels com-mercially available in SouthAfrica and the rest of the regionare at an advanced stage andthere would be a major an-nouncement at the end of April.

Based on improved temper-ature co-efficients - whichmeans lower performance loss-es at high temperatures -- thin-film modules were especiallysuited to temperatures over25°C, which was the case inSouth Africa and the rest of theregion. �

turnaround times of less thantwo weeks.

Some large enterprises haveopened warehouses in Europeand South Africa where theystock their products. As soon asan order is received, the goodsare shipped directly from there.

Apart from traditional mar-kets, the industry is also seek-ing to conquer emerging mar-kets in India and Pakistan,thanks to preferential tradeagreements with these twocountries. Foreign textile enter-prises are again showing akeen interest in Mauritius.

Chinese company, Tianli, in-vested US$600 million in a newproject at Riche-Terre near thecapital where a new industrialpark will accommodate high-end, value-adding industries.

Prime Minister Navin Ram-goolam has indicated that thisdevelopment project will pro-vide employment to 42,000people in five years, startingfrom April 2009.

Some 40 Chinese factorieswill operate from the park, spe-cializing in activities rangingfrom clothing manufacturing to

The country had almost losthope for its textile and clothingindustry after the closure ofseveral big factories over thepast few years. The sectordropped to a negative growthrate of minus 12.5 percent in2006 but has since been re-vamped to manufacture up-market goods.

The amazing turnaround inthe industry's fortunes hap-pened relatively fast with adramatic jump in its growthrate to eight percent in 2007.

Employing 67,000 people,the sector generated someUS$1.45 billion last year com-pared to US$1.25 billion in2006. The target is US$1.65 bil-lion for 2008.

Plenty of jobs are now avail-able in the textiles and clothingsector but there are not enoughlocal takers. The island is im-porting foreign labour fromIndia, China and Bangladeshwhich now numbers more than33,000.

The textile and clothing in-dustry works on small ordersof between 10,000 and 20,000items delivered with short


BUSIN

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Stunning turnaround for Mauritian textile sector

South Africa to purchase more power from Mozambique South African professor advances solar

technology

Tanzania signs powersupply agreement withAfDB

MOZAMBIQUE PLANS tobuild an additional containerterminal in Nacala to ease con-gestion at the existing facility. Itis expected that the addition ofthe new terminal and a generalimprovement in the cargo-han-dling equipment will be a hugestep forward in Nacala's quest tobecome a “mini-hub port” for anumber of feeder services to theEast African coast and IndianOcean ports.

Nacala international harbourserves the bulk of Mozam-bique's shipments in the north-ern parts of the country attract-ing users, not only from Malawi,but also from Zambia and theUnited Republic of Tanzania inserving as an alternative portalongside Dar es Salaam andMombasa in Kenya. �

Mozambique to buildcontainer terminal inNacala

hardware assembly and foodprocessing and generating anincome of about US$200 mil-lion. �


ELEC

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New President for Botswana Botswana's Khama: “Democracy, Development, Dignity and Discipline” WHILE THE internationalspotlight has focused on Zim-babwe, its neighbours inBotswana quietly changedtheir President almost unno-ticed, in a planned transitionthrough an election in Parlia-ment.

Festus Mogae, who has beenpresident for the past 10 years,resigned on 31 March, handingover to the former vice-presi-dent, Ian Khama, who is theeldest son of the late foundingPresident and father of the na-tion, Seretse Khama.

Ian Khama has been vice-president for the past decade,and chairperson of the rulingBotswana Democratic Party(BDP) since 2003. He is a grad-uate of Sandhurst, the officertraining college in Britain, andwas previously commander ofthe Botswana Defence Force(BDF).

Khama, 55, who took overfrom Mogae, 69, on 1 April,said in his inaugural addressthat there would be no policychange but his roadmap wouldbe “underpinned and charac-terized by the principles ofDemocracy, Development, Dig-nity and Discipline.”

He moved quickly to allayany fears of change, saying “achange of leadership does notmean radical changes in theway we have been setting outour objectives as agreed uponby the ruling party and govern-ment for this nation.

“Our party has a manifestothat I signed on to and the gov-ernment has a national devel-opment plan that I am also aparty to. However, in the

course of the incoming ad-ministration you maydetect a change in style

and special emphasison a number of is-sues. This should notcause any alarm oruncertainty.

“Batswana have every rightto reflect with pride on fourdecades of independence, sta-bility and major economic andsocial development,” Khamasaid.

His inauguration was at-tended by two former presi-dents (Mogae and his predeces-sor, Sir Ketumile Masire), tradi-tional leaders, judges, membersof parliament and the diplo-matic corps.

Khama chose as his Vice-President, the former Foreign

A PRELIMINARY statementfrom the SADC Electoral Ob-server Mission (SEOM), issuedbefore the announcement of re-sults, concluded that Zimbab-we's harmonized polls “heldon 29 March 2008 for President,Senate, National Assembly andlocal government have been apeaceful and credible expres-sion of the will of the people ofZimbabwe.”

The head of the SEOM, JoséMarcos Barrica said the elec-tions were “characterized byhigh levels of peace, toleranceand political vigour by partyleaders, candidates and theirsupporters.”

Barrica, who is the AngolanMinister of Youth and Sport,said his mission was satisfiedwith the conduct of the politi-cal parties, candidates and theelectorate, who were conver-sant with electoral laws andprocedures in the ElectoralAct and the SADC Guidelines

Governing Democratic Elec-tions.

The SADC Mission noted,however, that “the electionswere held against a back-ground characterized by ahighly tense and polarized in-ternational atmosphere wheresome quarters of the interna-tional community remain neg-ative and pessimistic aboutZimbabwe and its chances forcredible elections.”

The Mission noted andpursued concerns and allega-tions pertaining to bias on thepart of both the private andpublic media, pronounce-ments by senior officers in thesecurity forces, the presence ofpolice officers at polling sta-tions, and the delay in thepublication of the voters' roll,among other issues.

However, the SEOM saidwith regard to the overall vot-ing process, the elections wereconducted in an open and

transparent manner, and com-mended the Zimbabwe Elec-toral Commission (ZEC) formeeting the administrativechallenges of conducting theharmonized elections anddemonstrating “high levels ofprofessionalism, resilienceand hard work.

“It is SADC's greatest hopethat the spirit of co-operationand political tolerance whichprevailed thus far, will contin-ue to thrive amongst all par-ties and candidates in the postelection phase.

“The greatest winner heremust be the people of Zimbab-we and hence we call on allpolitical parties to accept theelection results. Any furtherqueries and concerns shouldbe pursued in line with thelaws of the country.”

In total the SEOM consistedof 163 members from 11 of theother 13 member states.sardc.net �

Minister, Mompati Merafhe; re-tained the respected financeminister, Baledzi Gaolethe; andreturned to cabinet in seniorpositions other experiencedleaders.

Four women are in cabinetout of 16 members, for a total of25 percent. All are senior andhave been in cabinet before.They hold the influential min-istries of local government;health; communications, sci-ence and technology; andyouth, sports and culture.

The BDP has been in powerfor more than 40 years sinceBotswana, a former British pro-tectorate, gained independencein 1966, and goes to the elec-torate every fives years.sardc.net �

SADC observers say Zimbabwe polls “peaceful and credible”

Campaign trail and voting in Zimbabwe, 29 March 2008

Seretse Ian Khama




Regional consultations initiated on SADC gender protocol

Some of the changes are in-tended to address overlapswith existing protocols or dec-larations such as the Protocolon Education and Training, theProtocol on Health, the MaseruDeclaration on HIV and AIDS,the UN Council Resolution1325 on Peace-building, Peace-making and Peace-keeping,and the Protocol on Culture, In-formation and Sport.

These changes point tochallenges with articulatinggender issues in the protocoland therefore there is need toset a clear conceptual frame-work of what the Protocol onGender and Developmentshould contain and why.

Delegates at the meetingalso defined which key stake-holders need to be involvedfrom the beginning of theprocess such as SADC seniorofficials, officials from min-istries of justice, foreign af-fairs, finance, members of par-liament, and developmentpartners.

Involving all key stake-holders will ensure that all

parties make an input intothe process and that any mis-understandings on the docu-ment are removed beforepresentation to Summit forapproval.

THE SADC Gender Unit hasa plan in place for consulta-tions throughout the regionon the draft gender protocolto enable the involvement ofall stakeholders.

The draft Protocol on Gen-der and Development isunder review after the 2007Summit of Heads of State andGovernment referred it backto SADC ministers responsi-ble for gender to allow forfurther national consulta-tions.

Consultations will be un-dertaken in the first half of theyear so the protocol can be fi-nalised and submitted toCouncil and Summit in Au-gust 2008.

A protocol is the mostbinding of SADC legal in-struments and it is expectedthat adoption of the genderprotocol, which proposesspecific targets and goals,will accelerate the achieve-ment of gender equality inthe region.

A strategic meeting of sen-ior officials responsible forgender and women's affairs inSADC Member States washeld in mid-December 2007 inLivingstone, Zambia as a firststep in reviewing the draft, toupdate senior officials onprogress, and to develop aframework for national activi-ties to advance discussions.

Delegates stressed the im-portance of national consulta-tions on the protocol so as toreach a consensus before it isresubmitted to Summit.

Magdeline Mathiba-Madi-bela, Head of the SADC Gen-der Unit, underscored the im-portance of reviewing thedraft so as to reach a consen-sus before resubmission toSummit. She stressed that it isimportant to have a draft witha “high level of clarity, con-sciousness, and focus.”

Action

Regional strategy meeting for senior officials responsible for Gender andWomen’s Affairs

National consultations with all stakeholders on the draft Protocol on Gender and Development

Ministers responsible for gender meeting

Ministers of Justice meeting

Submit final draft to Senior Council ofMinisters

Submit final draft to Summit

Adopted and signed Protocol

Roadmap towards the signing of the SADC draft Protocol onGender and Development

Institution

Secretariat

Member States (Ministries responsible for Gender andWomen’s Affairs) National stakeholders

Secretariat Member States

Secretariat Member States

Secretariat

Secretariat

Secretariat

Timeframe

December 2007

January-March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

August 2008

August 2008

August 2008

Guidelines for national consultations onthe draft Protocol on Gender and Development

o National workshop to briefthe stakeholders onprogress and next processes(The list of stakeholdersmust include officers fromgender ministries, and allother ministries and offi-cers mentioned below. Thiswill be in preparation forministerial level briefingsand consultations);

o Briefing of Minister(s) re-sponsible for Gender andWomen's Affairs;

o Consultations and consen-sus building with theSADC National Contact

Point (Ministry of Financeand Development Planningor Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs);

o Consultations and briefingof the Women's Parliamen-tary Caucuses;

o Consultations and briefingof Parliament;

o Consultations and thor-ough briefing of the Cabi-net;

o Consultations and thor-ough briefing of the Officeof the President includingthe President and/or PrimeMinister. �

GEN

DER

Senior officials agreed onthe need to strategise on howbest national consultationsshould be handled so that allstakeholders take ownershipof the protocol. �

by Patience Zirima


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Artists establish SADC forum on HIV and AIDSSADC ARTISTS have estab-lished a forum to act as a plat-form for the regional arts in-dustry in the fight against HIVand AIDS.

The SADC Forum forArtists Against AIDS was oneof the results of the SADCArtists Workshop on HIVand AIDS held in Zimbabweas part of the SADC ArtistAIDS Festival. The workshopwas attended by artistsfrom Lesotho, Mozambique,Swaziland, Zambia and Zim-babwe.

The forum will networkwith other HIV and AIDSservice organisations in the re-gion and individual MemberStates to undertake researchand provide statistics and dataon artists living with AIDSand needing anti-retroviraltherapy, as well as to provideinformation, services and sup-port to artists in general and inparticular artists living withHIV and AIDS.

It will also source fundingfrom SADC national govern-ments, international communi-ty, corporations, foundationsand individuals to assist artistsin dealing with the HIV andAIDS pandemic and to enablethe forum's steering committeeto achieve its objectives.

The forum will aim to pro-vide adequate information onvoluntary counselling and test-ing, and champion the case forall artists to go for counsellingand testing in order to receivenecessary support.

The forum's steering com-mittee is chaired by Zimbab-wean writer, Virginia Phiri,and her deputy is Zambianmusician, Moses Sakala.

In a declaration issued atthe end of the workshop,the artists observed that

many of them werestill in the denialstage about the reali-ty of HIV and AIDSand also noted that a

lot needs to be done to fightthe stigma associated withHIV and AIDS.

They observed that commu-nities were still unable to acceptartists and others who go pub-lic about their HIV status.

The SADC artists said theyhad undertaken a comprehen-sive introspection as artists on

ZAMBIAN FEMALE boxer,Esther Phiri, has become a rolemodel to young people in theSADC region after winningthe World International Box-ing Federation (WIBF) title.

Since her sensational victoryover then WIBF Intercontinen-tal Junior Lightweight champi-on, American Kelli Cofer, in2006, Phiri has become a house-hold name in Zambia.

Billboards with her pictureline streets and the govern-ment television broadcastercarries her fights live.

She also holds the GlobalBoxing Union (GBU) superfeatherweight title. Her lastfight was a GBU title defenceagainst American BelindaLaracuente in December2007.

She defeated the more ex-perienced American, addinganother victory to her impres-sive run as the first femaleboxing champion from south-ern African.

To many observers, Phiri - asingle mother and former streetvendor with little education -could provide the catalyst forchange in societal stereotypes.

Phiri acknowledges thatnavigating the challenges offame has not been easy for herand she has received advicefrom all corners, including fromPresident Levy Mwanawasa.

Aside from boxing, Phiriwants to finish school and saysshe has a "business mind". Shehas also set her sights on secur-ing a bout in Las Vegas, theworld capital of boxing. �

how HIV and AIDS is impact-ing on the industry and howthey must respond to the pan-demic, noting that artists arecurrently used mainly as in-struments in campaigns to en-courage behavioural changebut need to be educated them-selves on ways of preventingthe spread of HIV. �

Zambian female boxing sensation scores afirst for SADC Single tourism visa

for SADC region

SADC MEMBER Stateshave agreed to speed upthe process of establishingthe Univisa, a single visafor tourists visiting south-ern Africa, and the re-moval of obstacles to themovement of SADC citi-zens within the region.

The decision, taken at aministerial meeting in Lu-anda, Angola in March,was announced by RejoiceMabudafhasi, the deputytourism minister of SouthAfrica.

The Univisa is expectedto operate similarly to theEuropean Schengen visasystem. Member states stillhave to resolve outstand-ing issues such as costs,policy agreements, proce-dures and requirementsfor issuing of the Univisa.

The removal of obsta-cles to the movement ofSADC citizens can be donethrough bilateral agree-ments, including a waiverof visas and many SADCMember States have suchagreements.

The nine Member Stateswho have signed the pro-tocol on the movement ofcitizens are Botswana,DRC, Lesotho, Mozam-bique, Namibia, SouthAfrica, Swaziland, Tanza-nia and Zimbabwe. �


Boxing sensation,Esther Phiri



EVENTS

EVENTS DIARY 2008

April SADC Extra Ordinary Summit on Zimbabwe12, Zambia In consultation with the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on

Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, Mr. Jose EduardoDos Santos, the President of the Republic of Angola, SADCChairperson, Dr. Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (SC), the Presidentof the Republic of Zambia has called for an Extra OrdinarySummit of Heads of State and Government.

14-18 South Africa Africa Power and Electricity Congress The 10th annual Africa Power and Electricity Congress 2008aims to provide participants with an opportunity to interactwith industry leaders from 22 African countries and debatethe latest opportunities in the energy market.

16-17 Mauritius SADC Civil Society Regional Poverty and DevelopmentAdvocacy Platform Pre-Conference WorkshopThe workshop will prepare civil society delegates for theSADC International Consultative Conference on Poverty andDevelopment. Delegates from umbrella civil societyorganisations throughout the region will attend theworkshop.

18-20 Mauritius SADC International Consultative Conference on Poverty andDevelopmentTheme: “Regional Economic Integration: A Strategy forPoverty Eradication towards Sustainable Development”The conference will adopt a multi-stakeholder approach toallow for strategic dialogue that recognises the necessity ofregional multi-dimensional strategies and approaches totackle poverty. Expected outcomes include the adoption of aSADC Regional Poverty Reduction Framework (RPRF) andthe establishment of a SADC Poverty Observatory.

28-30 DRC SADC Energy Ministers SADC Energy Ministers will meet to discuss the energysituation in the region, and the prevailing power deficits. TheMinisters have ultimate oversight on the Power SectorProjects Road Map. The ministers will also discuss thephasing out of leaded petrol which is expected to take effectin April. The ministerial meeting will be preceded by apreparatory meeting of senior officials.

May 07-09, Namibia ICT-Africa 2008 Conference

ICT-Africa 2008 will bring together delegates fromcommercial, government and research organisations acrossAfrica and from Europe to strategise on ways to bridge theDigital Divide by sharing knowledge, experiences, lessonslearned and good practices. ICT-Africa 2008 will focus onApplied ICT research topics addressing major societal andeconomic challenges.

14-15, Mozambique Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank Mozambique will host the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Boardof Governors of the African Development Bank (ADB) andthe 34th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of theAfrican Development Fund (ADF) under the theme of“Fostering shared growth: urbanisation, inequality andpower.” These meetings are the most important meetingplace of finance and development experts in Africa.

THE SOUTHERN AFRICANDEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY TODAYSADC Today, Vol 10 No 5 April 2008

SADC TODAY is produced as a reference source of activities and opportunities inthe Southern African Development Community, and a guide for decision-makers atall levels of national and regional development. Articles may be reproduced freelyin the media and elsewhere, with attribution.

EDITORMunetsi Madakufamba

EDITORIAL COMMITTEEBayano Valy, Tomas Vieira Mario, Mukundi Mutasa, Takura Chamuka, Clever Mafuta, Tigere Chagutah

Phyllis Johnson, Shiela Chikulo, Emmanuella Matorofa, Richard Nyamanhindi

EDITORIAL ADVISORHead of Corporate Communications Unit, SADC

Leefa Penehupifo Martin

SADC TODAY is published six times a year by the Southern African Research andDocumentation Centre (SARDC) for the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana, as areliable, knowledge source on the Southern African Development Community. Thecontents consider the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the NewPartnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as integral to the region’s development.

© SADC, SARDC, 2008

SADC TODAY welcomes contributions from individuals and organisations within theSADC region in the form of articles, photographs, news items and comments, and alsorelevant articles from outside the region. A standard fee is paid for articles, photos andillustrations used in the publication. The publishers reserve the right to select or rejectitems, and to edit to fit the space available. The contents do not necessarily reflect theofficial positions or opinions of SADC or SARDC.

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SADC TODAY is published in English, Portuguese and French and is availableelectronically at www.sadc.int www.sardc.net.

DESIGN & LAYOUTTonely Ngwenya

PHOTOS & ILLUSTRATIONSp1,4,5 T Chamuka (SARDC); p6 (top) Mmegi (bottom) Editorial Vanguarda;

p12 R Nyamanhindi (SARDC); p14 Copyright JabJab Promotions

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SADC Today is supported by theSouthern Africa Trust


HIS

TORY

TOD

AY

THE ABOLITION of slavery in Mauritius in 1835 was as significant asthe end of apartheid in southern Africa's fight against poverty.

Happening 159 years apart, both events were defining points for aregion where institutionalised discrimination of one group by anotherwas common.

Both opened new horizons for the previously oppressed and ush-ered in new opportunities for those hitherto denied rights to self-deter-mination, education, accommodation and good health facilities.

Slaves were shipped from India and parts of Africa to work on theplantations in Mauritius owned by French settlers.

As with the fight against apartheid in South Africa, the march toabolish slavery in Mauritius was not an easy one, often involving vio-lent conflict.

Finally, after much petitioning, the colonial authorities abolishedslavery in 1835 but not before agreeing to several concessions for theplantation owners.

These included payment of €2.1 million and laws obliging freedslaves to remain on their former owners' land as “apprentices” for sixyears.Today, Mauritius is one of Africa's strongest economies, with a vibrantclothing and textile sector, export processing zone, and a model tourismindustry.

Mauritius this year commemorated the 173rd anniversary of theabolition of slavery with the unveiling of a commemorative pillar inmemory of slaves who were brought to the country.

The first pillar was inaugurated in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar in 2004,then at Saint Paul, Reunion Island in 2005, followed by the third one inJuly 2007 at Mozambique Island, the ancient capital of Mozambique.

The next commemorative pillar will be erected in Pondicherry onthe East coast of India and a “Slave Memory Garden” will be estab-lished in 2009 in Nantes, a French port from where hundreds of slaveships set sail for the Americas in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The initiative is supported by UNESCO's project, “The Slave Route.”Other events jointly organised by the Ministry of Arts and Culture, theLe Morne Heritage Trust Fund, the Nelson Mandela Centre for AfricanCulture and the National Heritage Fund included a wreath-laying cer-emony at the Slave Monument at Pointe Canon in Mahebourg, 50 kilo-metres east of Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius.

Public holidays in SADCApril - June 2008

4 April Peace and National AngolaReconciliation Day

7 April Women's Day Mozambique7 April Ougadi Mauritius7 April Sheik Abeid Amani Karume Day Tanzania18 April Independence Day Zimbabwe19 April King's Birthday Swaziland21 April Maulid Day Tanzania25 April National Flag Day Swaziland26 April Union Celebrations Tanzania27 April Freedom Day South Africa

1 May Labour/Workers Day All SADC2 May Public Holiday Malawi, Zambia,

Zimbabwe4 May Cassinga Day Namibia5 May Ascension Day Botswana, Lesotho,

Namibia, Swaziland17 May Liberation Day DRC25 May Africa Day Angola, Lesotho,

Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe

1 June International Children's Day Angola14 June Freedom Day Malawi16 June Youth Day South Africa24 June Fishermen's Day DRC25 June Independence Day Mozambique30 June Independence Day DRC

* Depends on visibility of the moon

A shared future within a regional community

End of slavery opens newhorizons for Mauritius

21 MARCH is a significant day in South Africa and Namibia's historical ex-perience. South Africa commemorates Human Rights Day, recognised afterthe Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 where 300 black South Africans embarkedon protests against the pass laws of the apartheid era. Following a state ofemergency, which lasted for 156 days, 69 people were killed and 187 in-jured. The Human Rights Day is but one step to ensure that the people ofSouth Africa are aware of their human rights and to ensure that such abusesnever again occur. In Namibia, this day marks 18 years of independencefrom South Africa. The words of the first post-independent president ofNamibia, Sam Nujoma still reverberate, “our achievement of independenceimposes upon us a heavy responsibility, not only to defend our hard won lib-erty, but also to set for ourselves high standards of equality, justice and op-portunity for all, without regard to race creed or colour.”


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