SADC to convene the 11th SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue in the Kingdom of Lesotho

The Southern African Development Community (SADC), in collaboration with the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho and with the support of the German Government through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), will host the 11th SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue in Maseru, Lesotho, from 29 to 30 September 2025. 

The SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue is a biennial platform that brings together water practitioners, policymakers, and representatives from the water, energy, agriculture, environment/ tourism, and finance sectors, alongside relevant public and private institutions, to exchange perspectives and address issues that are critical to regional integration, industrialisation, and poverty eradication. 

The 2025 Dialogue is organized under the SADC-GIZ Transboundary Water Management (TWM) project, in partnership with the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA). This year’s event will be held under the theme: “Water Security, Innovation, and Nexus Action: Watering and Enabling Regional Economic Development Corridors for Transformation in SADC.” The theme builds on the outcomes of the 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, held under the banner, “Advancing Industrialisation, Agricultural Transformation, and Energy Transition for a Resilient SADC”.

The Honourable Mohlomi Moleko, Minister of Natural Resources of the Kingdom of Lesotho, will grace the occasion and deliver the keynote address.

The Dialogue seeks to explore and articulate the strategic role of water in enabling smart, integrated, and climate-resilient regional economic development corridors through inclusive and adaptive Water-Energy-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus approaches.

Discussions will further examine institutional, planning, and strategic interventions required to align the SADC water sector with the regional economic corridor development agenda. Participants will also identify innovative water governance models, financing instruments, and technical solutions to support climate-resilient, inclusive, and corridor-linked development and service delivery. 

The concept of regional economic development corridors is inherently integrative and multi-sectoral, aligning closely with the WEFE Nexus approach already adopted in the region. Both frameworks embrace systems thinking, recognise the inefficiencies of siloed planning, seek to maximise benefits while minimising trade-offs, and require cross-sectoral policy coordination and institutional collaboration across multiple governance levels to be effective. Recognising that water is indispensable to the development of regional value chains, the  Dialogue will provide a dedicated regional platform for exchange on how the water sector can support and strengthen regional economic development corridors within the WEFE framework.

The Dialogue will provide an opportunity to co-develop a shared understanding, define roles and responsibilities, and propose strategies and mechanisms to ensure that water-related institutions and programmes contribute effectively to the corridor development.

Ultimately, the Dialogue aspires to shape regional economic corridors that serve not only as highways of trade and commerce but also as lifelines of resilience, food security, and climate-smart growth across the SADC region.

For enquiries:

Barbara Lopi, SADC Head of Communication and Public Relations, email: blopi@sadc.int or Letso Shine Mpho, +267 71640456, email: lmpho@sadc.int, or Mr Patrick Koboyatshwene, +267 395 1863 (1604), email: pkoboyatshwene@sadc.int or email prinfo@sadc.int.