The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) has been urged to be prudent with its financial resources. This call was made by the Angolan Foreign minister, Georges Chikoti, at the meeting of the SADC Council of Ministers which was held at GICC, in the capital Gaborone.
Chikoti passionately spoke of the urgency for prudent management of financial resources in the bloc if the bloc’s key objective of industrialization is to be realized.
This call comes in just about a year after the adoption by Heads of States and Government, of the SADC Regional Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063, which puts emphasis on industrial development and related infrastructure and services to support industrialization.
During his opening remarks, Botswana minister of finance and development planning, Kenneth Matambo also said the bloc needs significant resources and investment for the successful implementation of programmes. He also urged the region to continue mobilizing resources for the priority projects to be implemented to ensure successful cooperation and regional integration.
South Africa is currently the top contributor to the SADC 2016 economic exercise. Until 31 December 2015, SADC received from member countries US$36.6 million worth of contribution. However due to the global financial crisis, international partners have decided to cut down on its aid by US$14million. This is likely to make the functioning of the bloc difficult, as the contributions from member countries only cover internal costs.