Chakwera hands over SADC Chairmanship to DRC President

The State President, Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has today handed over the Chairmanship of the South Africa Development Community (SADC) to the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC Felix Tshisekedi.

At the 42nd Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government in Kinshasa, the outgoing Chairperson praised the country members for ther support during his 12-month tenure of office. He also wished the incumbent Leader of the Southern Region a successful tenure.

At the Summit which is being held under the theme of “promoting industrialisation through agro-processing, mineral beneficiation and regional value chains for inclusive and resilient economic growth”, Dr Chakwera said the region has achieved key projects under his leadership.

“During Malawi’s tenure of Chair, our task has been implementation of regional strategic plan 2020-30 under the theme boosting productive capacity in the face of Covid 19 pandemic for sustainability inclusive economic and industrial transformation,” said Chakwera.

He went on to articulate the projects that have been implemented under his leadership.

“The first thing is the detailed mapping and analysis of the selected agro-processing of value chains which was undertaken to determine the performance in terms of identification of opportunities and constraints of the value chains.

“Specifically in the agricultural chains, tilapia chains were promoted in the member state especially Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe which have already adapted the development of the tilapia value chains.

“The second one is considering the critical role of the small scale farmers and private sectors play in the region. Efforts are ongoing to raise the awareness of the small scale farmers and private sectors on compliance of senatorial and Vital Senatorials SPS measures. This will support intraSadic trade in agricultural products and ensure the safety of consumers,” said Chakwera.

He added that the region is continuing implementing Covid 19 relevance medical and pharmaceutical Project (CMPP).

“To date, 14 projects from 7 member state are being implemented namely Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“Key products being produced are Personal Protective Equipment including face masks, Face shields, medical gowns, hand sanitisers, Hospital disinfectants,” added Chakwera.

Chakwera has served the role of the Chair of the SADC for twelve months after taking it over from Mozambican President, Felipe Jason to Nhusi.