His Excellency João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola and Chairperson of SADC to visit the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana

His Excellency João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola and Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), will visit the SADC Secretariat Headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana on 14th June, 2024.

H.E. President João Lourenço will be welcomed at the Secretariat by the SADC Executive Secretary, His Excellency Mr. Elias M. Magosi, Management of the SADC Secretariat and the SADC Ambassadors and High Commissioners accredited to the Republic of Botswana and SADC.

H.E. President João Lourenço became the Chairperson of SADC on 17th August 2023 at the 43rd SADC Summit of Heads of States and Government that was held in Luanda, Republic of Angola. 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.

During his visit to the Secretariat, the SADC Chairperson will be appraised on the overall Status of SADC Regional Integration, status of implementation of SADC Programmes and SADC regional priorities as derived from the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RIDSP) 2020-2030 and Vision 2050. The SADC Chairperson will address the SADC Secretariat staff.

Under his leadership as the Chairperson of SADC, the 43rd SADC Summit held in adopted the 2022-2023 SADC Theme; “Human and Financial Capital: The Key Drivers for Sustainable Industrialisation in the SADC Region”. The theme recognizes human resources and financial capital as two of the most critical enablers for sustainable industrialisation.

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: Ms. Barbara Lopi, Head of Communication and Public Relations Unit, SADC Secretariat; email blopi@sadc.int, with a copy to prinfo@sadc.int, telephone +267 395 1863 or +267 364 1790