His Excellency Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa - President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and current Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and President Duma Gideon Boko of the Republic of Botswana will undertake a Working Visit to the SADC Secretariat Headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana on 13th December 2024.
President Mnangagwa became the Chairperson of SADC on 17th August 2024 during the 44th SADC Summit of Heads of States and Government that was held in Harare, Zimbabwe. As is customary, Chairpersons of SADC visit the SADC Secretariat Headquarters during their tenure to appreciate the work done by the Secretariat in facilitating the SADC regional integration agenda and to provide guidance on the Secretariat’s implementation of SADC Programmes.
The SADC Chairperson will be appraised on the status of implementation of SADC Programmes, decisions, and the 44th SADC Summit theme, “Promoting Innovation to Unlock Opportunities for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development towards an Industrialised SADC”.
During the visit, the SADC Secretariat, the SADC Chairperson together with President Duma Gideon Boko of the Republic of Botswana will receive the SADC Headquarters building from Bongwe Investments Proprietary Limited on behalf of the SADC Heads of State and Government. The SADC Secretariat Headquarters Building has been governed through a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Agreement involving SADC, Bongwe Investments (Proprietary) Limited (Private Party) and the Government of the Republic of Botswana as a guarantor to the PPP arrangement.
The SADC Chairperson and the President of the Republic of Botswana will also perform a ground-breaking ceremony for the commencement of the construction of the SADC Standby Force Regional Logistics Depot (RLD) at Rasesa village, in the Kgatleng District, 40km from Gaborone. The SADC Standby Force Regional Logistics Depot will serve as a storage for materials, equipment and end-user stocks for use by the SADC Standby Force when undertaking mandated peace support and humanitarian missions.
The SADC Chairperson oversees the highest level of the governance structure of SADC, and among others, has the overall mandate of providing policy direction, and controlling the functions of SADC.
Enquiries: Barbara Lopi, Head of Communications and Public Relations Unit, SADC Secretariat; email blopi@sadc.int and cc prinfo@sadc.int or telephone +267 3951863
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SADC in Brief
SADC is an organisation of 16 Member States established in 1980 as the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) and later, in August,1992 transformed into the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The mission of SADC is to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development through efficient, productive systems, deeper cooperation and integration, good governance and durable peace and security; so that the region emerges as a competitive and effective player in international relations and the world economy. Member States are Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Issued by the SADC Secretariat 09th December 2024
Gaborone, Botswana
