Build upon the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC - 1980), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was formally established in August 1992 with the adoption of the SADC Treaty by initially 10 States, namely Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was later joined by South Africa (1994), Mauritius (1995), the Democratic Republic of Congo (1997), Seychelles (2008), Madagascar (2005) and more recently by Comoros (2017). SADC Member States work together towards regional integration as a mechanism to sustain and enhance the social and economic development of the region, as formulated in SADC Common Agenda. SADC Vision 2050, “Towards a common future”, was defined in 2021 through a comprehensive collaborative and consultative process involving public, private, academic stakeholders and the civil society in all Member States.
The Vision provides the overarching strategy paving the way for the economic and social development of the region through regional integration. SADC Vision 2050 is complementary to the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063 and its flagship projects and continental frameworks.
