As the SADC Heads of State or Government decided to commission a new headquarters accommodation for SADC to be designed, financed, and constructed through a public-private partnership, one Member State of SADC was required to underwrite SADC’s financial obligations to the partnership.
Therefore, SADC passed its Memorandum of Understanding Amongst the Member States of the Southern African Development Community on the New Headquarters of SADC to set out terms of underwriting this project.
The Memorandum of Understanding specifies that the Government of Botswana will provide financial assurance for SADC’s contributions to the public-private partnership. It then establishes a mechanism for situations in which the Government of Botswana is obligated to make payments on behalf of SADC and consequences for other SADC Member States when this mechanism is triggered. The Memorandum of Understanding also requires Member States to notify one another when this underwriting mechanism is enacted, as well as establishes that an agreement between the SADC Secretariat and the Government of Botswana to resolve payment obligations without default.
