The Annual Meeting of SADC Ministers responsible for Telecommunications, Postal and ICT was held from 10 to 13 May 2010 in Luanda, Angola. The Meeting was officially opened by Honourable Dra. Ana Dias Lourenco, the President of the SADC National Committee and Minister of Planning of the Republic of Angola.

The Meeting was chaired by Honourable Joel Kaapanda, Minister of Communications and Information Technology of Namibia, and was attended by Honourable Ministers responsible for the Communications and ICT from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Deputy Ministers from Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. The Meeting was also attended by the Deputy Executive Secretary (Regional Integration) of the SADC Secretariat, Dr. Caholo.

The Meeting focused on a review of the implementation of the Ministers’ decisions emanating from the last Ministers meeting which was held in Swakopmund, Namibia in June 2009. The Meeting also facilitated a policy dialogue which sought to ensure that the implementation of regional programmes in Communications and ICT contributed meaningfully to socio-economic development and to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the SADC Region.

The Ministers approved the recommendations made by the Regional Alliance Task Team (RATT) for the adoption of a policy statement including the following policy objectives: transparency; cost based pricing; effective competition; regulatory certainty and predictability; regional development; and infrastructure development. The Ministers also approved that a second phase of the Regional Impact Assessment Study (RIA) related to cost information be undertaken as soon as possible.

The Ministers received a report on the study undertaken on “Best Practices in Utilisation of Universal Service/Access Funds in SADC”, which called for a review of the existing regulations and guidelines, the development and enactment of policies and laws that will ensure viable and sustainable business models. The Ministers recommended that further work be undertaken to review the existing regional guidelines and that the Region should develop a tool kit for adoption by Member States. The recommended ICT Consumer Protection Guidelines in SADC were also adopted and would be expanded to include issues relating to elderly people and consumer education.

The revised SADC Frequency Band Plan was agreed upon for adoption and harmonisation with the national Frequency Band Plan in the respective Member States.

The Ministers were also provided with an opportunity to meet in a special session to receive presentations on standards that were at the disposal of the SADC Region for digital broadcasting migration. The SADC Roadmap on Digital Broadcasting Migration was reviewed and the Ministers recommended that, due to the importance and the urgency of the issues, an ad-hoc sub-committee be set up whose mandate will be to undertake further investigations and advise Member States on the viability of the different technical standards, with a view to the Region moving towards adoption of one common standard. The Ministers further agreed that there should be a special session of their meeting to discuss and make a decision on the standard to be adopted in the SADC Member States.

Progress made towards the merger of the Communication Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa(CRASA) and the Southern African Postal Regulators’ Association (SAPRA) was reviewed.

The Ministers approved the e-SADC Strategic Framework that aims at harnessing ICT for enhancing socio-economic development and regional integration. The proposed regional priorities for 2011/2012 which included, amongst others, the setting up of National and Regional Internet Exchange points; harmonisation of Cyber Security Regulatory Frameworks in SADC; and a Regional project to improve interconnection among physical, electronic and financial postal networks were agreed upon.

The Ministers also noted the infrastructure report and were updated on the implementation of the SADC Regional Information Infrastructure (SRII) and the operationalisation of the Regional African Satellite Company (RASCOM). The Ministers were briefed on forthcoming regional and international fora, including the ITU World Telecommunications Development Conference (WTDC), the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) High level Strategy Conference and the World Radio Conference 2012. Regarding the UPU Conference, the meeting agreed that the Region should come up with common positions on various issues prior to the Conference.

The Meeting also received other reports from the SADC Secretariat, including an update on the Regional Infrastructure Master Plan, the SADC 2010 Investment Promotion Programme and the activities and celebrations that will mark the commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of SADC during the year.

13 May 2010
Luanda, Angola