- The theme of this year’s 41st Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government held at Lilongwe Malawi was “Bolstering Productive Capacities in the face of COVID-19 Pandemic for Sustained, Inclusive, Economic and Industrial Transformation”.
- President of the Republic of Malawi and Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, during the closing session of the 41st Summit of SADC held on Aug 19, urged all members to respond pragmatically and proactively to the ravaging impacts of COVID-19 on the socio- economic situation in the region.
The theme of this year’s 41st Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government held , at Lilongwe Malawi was “Bolstering Productive Capacities in the face of COVID-19 Pandemic for Sustained, Inclusive, Economic and Industrial Transformation”. President of the Republic of Malawi and Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, during the closing session of the 41st Summit of SADC held on Aug 19, urged all members to respond pragmatically and proactively to the ravaging impacts of COVID-19 on the socio- economic situation in the region. President Chakwera stated that the Summit was constructive and progressive towards shared goals of regional integration and economic cooperation.
During the summit, four agreements were signed by the leaders. It was agreed to amend SADC protocol on the control of firearms, ammunition and other related materials. Another agreement signed was on the Status of the SADC standby force and its components in deployment within the region for training, peace support operation, exercises and humanitarian help. Other agreements that the summit approved and signed by Heads of State were the protocol on statistics and an agreement amending the SADC protocol on energy.
The leaders also approved the appointment of Mr Elias Mpedi Magosi as the new SADC Executive Secretary and agreed that the next summit will take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in August 2022. The summit endorsed an action plan for implementing the Security Threats Report and urged the member states to start interventions in the plan. The summit also reviewed reports on the socio-economic overview in the region, regional food and nutrition security, gender and development, HIV-AIDS, and so on.
