The SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomão, is a former Minister of Finance and Planning in Mozambique who is well known and respected in the Region. His appointment was announced at the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held on 17-18 August 2005 in Gaborone, Botswana, and renewed in 2009 at the Summit held in Kinshasa, DR Congo.
The SADC Executive Secretary was born on 16 October 1954 in Inharrime, Inhambane Province in Mozambique. He received his academic training in Mozambique where, during his early academic years, he was awarded a qualification as Certified Public Accountant in 1972. In 1976 he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and in 1990 he achieved his Master of Arts Degree in Economics from the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, where he later became an economics lecturer between 2000 and 2004.
Dr Salomão, 58, has made significant contributions to the development of his country and the Region, serving his country in senior positions for the past 22 years. He was most recently the Minister of Transport and Communications from 2000-2004. During this period, he also held international positions as chairperson of the Ministers Committee of the African Union charged with the development of ICTs in 2003-2004, and as chairperson of the SADC Transport and Communications Committee (SATCC) from 2000 to 2002. He served as Minister of Planning and Finance from 1994 to 1999, during the period of reconstruction in Mozambique following the Peace Accord. During the same period, he also served as governor for Mozambique at the African Development Bank, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Prior to his SADC appointment, Dr Salomão was a member of parliament in Mozambique following elections in December 2004.
At the regional level, among other things, he mainstreamed the Institutional Reform Process at the Secretariat which led to the signing of the Contribution Agreements with the European Union (EU) in November 2012.