SADC PROFILE

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been in existence since 1980, when it was formed as a loose alliance of nine majority-ruled States in Southern Africa known as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), with the main aim of coordinating development projects in order to lessen economic dependence on the then apartheid South Africa. The founding Member States are: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

SADCC was formed in Lusaka, Zambia on April 1, 1980, following the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration - Southern Africa: Towards Economic Liberation.

The transformation of the organization from a Coordinating Conference into a Development Community (SADC) took place on August 17, 1992 in Windhoek, Namibia when the Declaration and Treaty was signed at the Summit of Heads of State and Government thereby giving the organization a legal character.

SADC was established under Article 2 of the SADC treaty by SADC Member States represented by their respective Heads of State and Government or duly authorised representatives to spearhead economic integration of Southern Africa.

SADC VISION

The SADC vision is one of a common future, within a regional community that will ensure economic well-being, improvement of the standards of living and quality of life, freedom and social justice; peace and security for the peoples of Southern Africa. This shared vision is anchored on the common values and principles and the historical and cultural affinities that exist amongst the peoples of Southern Africa.

SADC OBJECTIVES

Provided for in Article 5 of the SADC Treaty, the SADC Objectives are to:

• achieve development and economic growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration;
• evolve common political values, systems and institutions;
• promote and defend peace and security;
• promote self-sustaining development on the basis of collective self-reliance, and the inter-dependence of Member States;
• achieve complementarity between national and regional strategies and programmes;
• promote and maximise productive employment and utilisation of resources of the region;
• achieve sustainable utilisation of natural resources and effective protection of the environment;
• strengthen and consolidate the long-standing historical, social and cultural affinities and links among the peoples of the region;

TO ACHIEVE ITS AIMS, SADC SHALL:

• harmonise political and socio-economic policies and plans of Member States;
• mobilise the peoples of the region and their institutions to take initiatives to develop economic, social and cultural ties across the region, and to participate fully in the implementation of the programmes and projects of SADC;
• create appropriate institutions and mechanisms for the mobilisation of requisite resources for the implementation of the programmes and operations of SADC and its institutions;
• develop policies aimed at the progressive elimination of obstacles to free movement of capital and labour, goods and services, and of the peoples of the region generally within Member States;
• promote the development of human resources;
• promote the development, transfer and mastery of technology;
• improve economic management and performance through regional cooperation;
• promote the coordination and harmonisation of the international relations of Member States;
• secure international understanding, cooperation and support, mobilise the inflow of public and private resources into the region; and
• develop such other activities as Member States may decide in furtherance of the objectives of SADC.

The signatories of the SADC Treaty agree that underdevelopment, exploitation, deprivation and backwardness in Southern Africa will only be overcome through economic cooperation and integration. The Member States recognise that achieving regional economic integration in Southern Africa requires them to put their full support behind SADC to act on behalf of all Southern Africans for their common prosperity, peace and unity.

In pursuit of this agenda, SADC has adopted milestones to facilitate the attainment of the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) by 2008, the Customs Union (CU) by 2010, the Common Market (CM) by 2015, Monetary Union (MU) by 2016 and the Single Currency by 2018. The SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) was launched on August 17, 2008 at Sandton, South Africa during the 28th Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government.

SADC PRIORITIES AND COMMON AGENDA

The SADC Common Agenda is based on various principles, such as development orientation; subsidiarity; market integration and development; facilitation and promotion of trade and investment and variable geometry.

The SADC Common Agenda includes:

• the promotion of sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development that will ensure poverty alleviation with the ultimate objective of its eradication;
• promotion of common political values, systems and other shared values which are transmitted through institutions which are democratic, legitimate and effective; and
• the consolidation and maintenance of democracy, peace and security.

Current Member States are: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

SADC headquarters are located in Gaborone, Botswana.

Updated: January 08, 2009
Public Relations Unit