The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat successfully concluded its Annual Planning Meeting, held from 02-05 September 2025 in Botswana, officially launching the Planning and Budgeting Process for the 2026/27Financial Year.
The Session provided a strategic platform for participants to:
- Receive guidance from Executive Management on priorities and emerging issues to shape the Annual Corporate Plan 2026/27;
- Present, review, and refine draft Annual Operational Plans (AOPs) and Budgets developed by Directorates and Units;
- Harmonise activities across the Secretariat to foster synergies and collaboration with internal stakeholders; and
- Finalise AOPs and Budgets for integration into the SADC Integrated Management System (SIMS).
The planning meeting led by the Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration (DES-RI), and the Deputy Executive Secretary for Corporate Affairs (DES-CA), was attended by members of SADC Management Team, senior officers and technical staff. Throughout the planning meeting, participants actively exchanged information to ensure alignment with the Secretariat’s strategic direction and commitment to delivering measurable regional impact.
In his virtual keynote address to the meeting, the SADC Executive Secretary, H.E. Mr. Elias Magosi, reiterated to staff that the central message from the recent SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Madagascar in August 2025 was rationalisation. He underscored:
“This is a call for all of us to ensure that the region continues to deliver with efficiency and achieve maximum impact, prioritising the most important results without expecting Member States to increase their contributions to the SADC budget. It is a call to put on our thinking caps and advise Member States on ways to improve the lives of citizens in the face of limited financial resources”.
Echoing these sentiments, the Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration, Ms. Angele Makombo N’Tumba, urged participants to reaffirm SADC’s collective purpose, sharpen operational focus, and strengthen contributions to accelerate the implementation of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030. She emphasised that this year’s planning and budgeting process highlights the importance of fiscal discipline and prioritisation in this year’s planning cycle.
On her part, the Deputy Executive Secretary for Corporate Affairs, Dr. Judith Kateera, reinforced the guiding message: Rationalise, Prioritise, Re-Prioritise, and Resource Mobilisation. She called for a critical review of both expenditure and revenue streams, highlighting the need to prioritise regional projects requiring funding, and reaffirming Corporate Affairs’ role as an anchor to regional integration.
Beyond reviewing performance review, the planning meeting served as a forum to strengthen collaboration across Directorates and Units. Staff were encouraged to work collectively, identify synergies, and ensure coherence in programme and activity delivery, thereby reinforcing the Secretariat’s mandate to advance regional integration and sustainable development.
