by Joseph Ngwawi

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT hasbeen placed at the core of the region's commu-nity-building agenda and concerted efforts arebeing made to ensure the availability of an in-tegrated, efficient and cost-effective system tosustain regional economic development andtrade.

The 32nd Summit of SADC Heads of Stateand Government set for 17-18 August inMozambique is expected to speed up the pro-vision of regional infrastructure, seen as a criti-cal foundation for the realisation of regionalintegration objectives.

A number of key developments have takenplace since the last summit in Angola in 2011,including finalisation of the regional infrastruc-ture development master plan.

Ministers responsible for infrastructureagreed on the draft SADC Regional Infrastruc-ture Development Master Plan at a meeting inLuanda, Angola in late June, paving the way forthe document’s final approval by the leadersduring the forthcoming Summit set for Maputo.The SADC master plan will guide implementa-tion of coordinated, integrated, efficient, trans-boundary infrastructure networks in the sixpriority sectors of energy, transport, tourism, in-formation technology, meteorology and water.

Identified priority infrastructure projects willbe implemented in three phases over 15 yearsstretching from 2012 to 2027 at a cost of aboutUS$500 billion, with transport, energy andwater taking up the major share of the fundingrequirements.

The region is projected to commissionpower generation projects that will supply17,000 megawatts (MW) in the next three yearsto 2015, while the region could attain self suffi-ciency in power by 2014.

An investment conference is planned be-tween January and March 2013 to lure potentialinvestors for the identified regional infrastruc-ture projects while road shows are also plannedin Asia, Europe and the United States for thesame purpose.

The leaders are also expected to consider re-ports from the Ministerial Task Force on Re-gional Economic Integration, which was taskedduring the 2011 Summit held in Angola withfinding ways of consolidating the SADC FreeTrade Area (FTA); establishment of the SADCCustoms Union and the Tripartite FTA involv-ing SADC, the Common Market for Easternand Southern Africa (COMESA) and the EastAfrican Community (EAC).

continued on page 2...

SADC TODAY Vol. 14 No 5 August 2012

POLICY 3

TRADE 4

AFRICAN UNION 5

ENERGY 6

INFRASTRUCTURE 7

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 8-9

CLIMATE CHANGE 10

GENDER 11

EDUCATION 12

CHINA-AFRICA 13

ELECTIONS 14

EVENTS 15

HISTORY TODAY 16

Infrastructure DevelopmentRegional Master Plan

2 SOUTHERN AFRICA Today, August 2012

The task force adopted awork programme for consoli-dation of the SADC FTA inAugust 2010, which includedmeasures to facilitate acces-sion of Member States that arenot yet participating in theSADC FTA; full implementa-tion of the FTA; and tradefacilitation, including infra-structure development.

The work programme alsoincludes measures to addressnon-tariff barriers (NTBs),simplify rules of origin as wellas harmonisation and effectiveimplementation of customsdocumentation and proce-dures.

SADC Executive Secretary,Tomaz Augusto Salomão hasduring the past two years ledhigh level missions to Sey-chelles and Angola, and isconsulting with the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo(DRC) regarding accession tothe SADC Protocol on Tradeand participation in the FTA.

Seychelles has made a de-cision to accede to the Protocoland, in accordance with acces-sion procedures, submitted aletter of intent and a marketaccess offer to the Secretariat.The Secretariat is providingthe necessary support to Sey-chelles.

Following high level con-sultations between Salomãoand the political leadership inAngola in 2011, a technicalteam from the Secretariat vis-ited Angola this year to assessongoing efforts by govern-ment towards industrial reha-bilitation as well as economicand infrastructure develop-ment. The mission has also as-sisted Angola in preparing aroadmap towards accession.

The work programme onconsolidation of the FTA fore-sees a further review of therules of origin to further sim-plify them and to ensure thatthey are supportive to intra-re-

development and competitive-ness. Facilitating movement ofbusiness persons within the re-gion will be negotiated in par-allel with the first phase.

The SADC Protocol onGender and Development isset to enter into force verysoon. Only one more depositof the instruments of ratifica-tion is required.

As of the last Summit, 13Member States had signed theProtocol, with the exception ofBotswana and Mauritius, whileeight had ratified the instru-ment, namely Angola, Lesotho,Mozambique, Namibia, Sey-chelles, South Africa, UnitedRepublic of Tanzania and Zim-babwe.

D R C , M a d a g a s c a r,Malawi, Swaziland, and Zam-bia – had not yet ratified theProtocol at the time of the 2011Summit. Zambia reported thatit was at advanced stages ofgetting the Protocol ratified byits statutory bodies. r

Infrastructure development, Regional Master Plan

C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1

Madagascar was suspendedfrom SADC and the AfricanUnion following a 2009 coupthat replaced Ravalomananawith the then mayor of Antana-narivo, Andre Rajoelina.

The SADC-mediated agree-ment allows for the uncondi-tional return from exile ofRavalomanana and for the es-tablishment of transitional in-stitutions ahead of elections.However, Ravalomanana hasnot yet been allowed to return.

SADC is also facilitating thepolitical dialogue in Zimbabwewhere President Jacob Zuma ofSouth Africa is working withmembers of the inclusive gov-ernment to develop a roadmaptowards elections. r

SIGNIFICANT PROGRESShas been made in terms of po-litical stability in the regionduring the past year, includingpolitical dialogues in Lesotho,Madagascar and Zimbabwe.

Lesotho held long-awaitedgeneral elections in May fol-lowing the two-year, SADC-mediated dialogue aimed atfinding a lasting solution to thecountry’s political polarisation.

Political parties in Madagas-car signed an agreement in Sep-tember 2011 that allows thereturn of exiled leader MarcRavalomanana and paves theway for elections to be heldwithin one year to re-establishdemocracy on the IndianOcean island.

Political dialogue

Cahora Bassa dam in Mozambique

gional trade. Such a reviewshould include reforms on theadministrative aspects of therules such as e-certification.

An expert group on rulesof origin for textiles and cloth-ing has been established toprepare specific recommenda-tions for the reform of therules for the sector which werenot addressed during the firstcomprehensive review of rulesof origin.

The 2011 Summit urgedthe Ministerial Task Force onRegional Economic Integra-tion to expedite the necessarywork leading to agreementand common understandingon parameters of the proposedSADC Customs Union as wellas benchmarks or milestonesrequired for the establishmentof the Customs Union.

The task force was alsomandated to develop a modelCustoms Union, and themodalities that should be fol-lowed for implementation ofthe union.

The Tripartite Trade Nego-tiation Forum (TTNF) involv-ing COMESA-SADC-EAC hasagreed to the timetable andformat of negotiations to es-tablish an integrated marketcovering 27 countries in eastand southern Africa.

This was adopted at thefirst round of negotiationsheld in December last year fol-lowing the historic launch ofnegotiations by the leaders ofthe three regional economiccommunities in June the sameyear.

The TTNF agreed to meet atleast four times per year duringthe first phase of negotiations.The first phase of negotiationsis set to complete within 36months (until the end of 2014),and will address issues such astariff liberalisation, rules of ori-gin, customs cooperation andcustoms-related matters, non-tariff barriers, sanitary andphytosanitary measures, tech-nical barriers to trade, traderemedies and dispute settle-ment.

The second phase of nego-tiations will focus on negotiat-ing trade in services and traderelated issues, including intel-lectual property rights, compe-tition policy and trade

President Armando Guebuza

THE SADC Secretariat hascommissioned an audit on im-plementation of the SADC Pro-tocol on Trade.

Signed in 1996, and com-ing into force in 2000 followinga ratification process, theSADC Protocol on Trade aimsto boost trade among MemberStates through the eliminationof customs tariffs and non-tar-iff barriers.

A total of 12 SADC MemberStates signed the Protocol andare thus part of the Free TradeArea (FTA), with the exceptionof Angola and the DemocraticRepublic of Congo which haveasked for more time before join-ing the FTA. Madagascar is sus-pended from SADC activities.

Implementation of the tradeprotocol has been a protractedregional process that has contin-ued even beyond the formallaunch of the FTA in August2008, and this year marks thefinal year of tariff phase-downsand final assessment.

To review the implementa-tion process, SADC has taskedthe Southern Africa Trade Hubto conduct an audit of all signa-tories to the SADC Protocol onTrade.

The audit – the sixth of itskind since the Protocol cameinto force will involve countryvisits to all SADC MemberStates that are signatories.

The country visits are aimedat collecting information for theaudit report and, in particular,to gather views from a widerange of stakeholders concern-ing their experiences of how theSADC Protocol on Trade hasbeen implemented.

So far, audit visits have beencarried out in Botswana,Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius,Mozambique, Namibia, SouthAfrica, Swaziland, Zambia andZimbabwe.

According to the SouthernAfrica Trade Hub, the outcomeof the assessment will be an

audit report which will be re-viewed by the SADC Trade Ne-gotiating Forum, senior officialsand the Committee of Ministersof Trade in Gaborone,Botswana.

The last audit done in 2011showed that the general com-pliance of the 2011 tariff phase-downs was high. The tablebelow provides a summary ofthe implementation status forindividual Member States.

While compliance is gener-ally good, discrepancies con-tinue to arise for individualtariff lines. However, these tariffline discrepancies will becomeincreasingly irrelevant as Mem-ber States complete the tariffphase-downs in 2012.

The 2011 audit report alsoindicates that significantprogress has been made in ad-dressing not only FTA issuesbut the SADC broader vision ofregional integration as well.

For example, intra-SADCtrade has recovered signifi-cantly since the 2008 global eco-nomic crisis and showssubstantial expansion duringthe period of implementation ofthe SADC FTA.

Rules of Origin continue tobe discussed in the SADC con-text, specifically in the ExpertsWorking Group on Textiles andClothing.

There has been substantialprogress in the developmentand implementation of themonitoring mechanism forNon-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) aswell as on the strengthening oftrade facilitation initiativeswithin SADC.

Member States are alsomore aware of the impact ofNTBs and are moving towardsa more systematic approach toaddress these measures. Whilemore needs to be done, the on-line NTB monitoring system

has progressed significantlyduring the course of the pastyear, moving from almost noresolved complaints to nearly70 percent resolved.

On SADC broader integra-tion agenda, Member Statesare preparing to actively nego-tiate under the Tripartite FTA.The Tripartite FTA, commonlyknown as the “Grand” FTA in-volves two other regional eco-nomic communities: theCommon Market for Easternand Southern Africa(COMESA) and the EastAfrican Community (EAC).

The COMESA-EAC-SADC aims to launch an en-larged Tripartite FTAcovering 27 countries in east-ern and southern Africa, andwhen fully operational thefree market is expected to in-crease trade and deepen inte-gration among MemberStates. r

SOUTHERN AFRICA Today 3

P O L I C Y

SADC conducts audit on trade protocol

Summary of 2011 tariff phase-downs

Notes

SACU tariff phase-downs completedin 2008

Malawi has phased down someSADC duties throughout the pastyear but, as of April 2011, Malawiwas still at 2004/2005 tariff reductionlevels.

During country visit in April 2011,the Mauritius Revenue Authorityadvised that the 2011 tariffphase-downs were to be gazetted inMay/June.

Block approval of SADC tariffphase- downs.

Block approval of SADC tariff phase-downs. Derogation requested forsugar and specific categories of paper.

Block approval from 2008 through2012 gazetted through SI 103 of 2008.

Zimbabwe has requested and receivedderogation on tariff phase-downs.

Method

South Africa RevenueService (SARS) website

Malawi RevenueAuthority website andsubmissions by Malawi

Country visit

Mozambique RevenueAuthority

Country visit

SADC Secretariat

Country notification

Implemented

Yes

Partial

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

SACU(Botswana,Lesotho,Namibia,Swaziland andSouth Africa)

Malawi

Mauritius

Mozambique

Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe

THE UNITED REPUBLIC ofTanzania and Zambia haveagreed to set up a committeeof experts to review the Tanza-nia-Zambia Railway Act in amove aimed at improving op-erations of the jointly ownedrailway line.

The Council of Ministers ofthe two countries agreed dur-ing a meeting in June that thereview should result in struc-tural changes in Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority(Tazara) management.

Presently, the 1975 TazaraAct, which was reviewed in1995, states that the position ofmanaging director would beoccupied by somebody fromZambia while that of deputymanaging director is reservedfor a Tanzanian.

Among other changes, thereview may lead to a situationwhere the holders of the twopositions would be appointedon merit as opposed to thecurrent system.

Zambian Transport Minis-ter, Yamfwa Mukanga said hiscountry was committed to in-jecting US$10 million for recap-italisation of the railway firmbut initially it would invest $5million to increase the volumeof cargo and passengers.

“Among problems facingTazara is capitalisation. Wemade a provision for thefunds during the current fi-nancial year to enable the rail-way to increase passengersand cargo," said Mukanga,who is chairperson of theTazara Council of Ministers.

Tazara is a key transporterof cargo, mostly copper andother minerals from the Zam-bia mines to Dar es Salaam forexport to overseas markets. Italso transports passengers.

Tazara is the gateway toeastern and southern Africanbusiness markets coveringboth SADC and the Common

Market for Eastern and South-ern Africa (COMESA).

The 1,860-kilometre Tazararailway line, stretching fromDar es Salaam in Tanzania toKapiri Mposhi in Zambia, wasconstructed between 1970 and1973 when the Chinese gov-ernment extended a US$500million loan for its construc-tion and supervised the workthat was completed ahead ofschedule.

4 SOUTHERN AFRICA Today, August 2012

T R A D E

Zambia, Tanzania review Tazara operations

ACP calls for flexibility in EPA negotiationsTHE AFRICAN, Caribbeanand Pacific (ACP) Group ofStates has called for flexibilityin negotiations with Europeon the Economic PartnershipAgreements (EPAs).

The ACP Council of Minis-ters, which met in Port Vila,Vanuatu, in June, adopted res-olutions on several matters in-cluding measures to improvetrade in sugar, tobacco andcotton with the EU.

The ACP ministers saidthey are committed to con-cluding negotiations with Eu-rope on the EPAs.

“Despite the challenges, weremain committed to conclud-ing the negotiations, but we

cannot stress enough theneed to place devel-

opment firmly atthe heart of

our agenda,” said Alva Bap-tiste, Foreign Minister of StLucia, the incoming chairper-son of the ACP Council ofMinisters.

He said that until the con-tentious issues are addressed“it is difficult for our regionsto sign EPAs and we continueour call for flexibility on thepart of our European Unionpartners in attaining mutuallyagreed and mutually benefi-cial agreements.

“We reiterate our appeal tothe EU Commission to with-draw its proposal to amendMarket Access Regulation1528, which imposes a unilat-eral deadline by which to con-clude trade agreements,” hesaid, noting that the measurewas “putting undue pressureon our countries to sign EPAswithout properly addressingareas that may threaten thestability and growth of their

countries.”He said the ACP be-

lieved that through thepower of dialogueand was confident

that “in the spirit of the part-nership enshrined in the Coto-nou Agreement, we can find away out of this impasse”.

The Cotonou Agreementsigned in 2000 put in place atrade cooperation frameworkaimed at liberalising trade be-tween the ACP and EU andalso specified that a new WorldTrade Organization-compatibleregime or an EPA must beagreed by the end of 2007.

ACP is also intensifying ef-forts to lobby against newguidelines that will further re-strict production and con-sumption of tobacco under aWorld Health Organisation(WHO)-led global treaty.

The ministers resolved tooppose approval of draftguidelines to sections of theWHO Framework Conventionon Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) that deal with meas-ures to control tobaccodemand such as taxes and reg-ulation of the contents andemissions of tobacco products.

The WHO-FCTC is theworld’s first global publichealth treaty, which enteredinto force in February 2005. Itwas signed by 168 of the 192WHO member states andmore than 170 WHO memberstates have become parties tothe convention. r

According to Tazara Man-aging Director AkashambatwaLewanika, the firm’s perform-ance has improved since2008/09 when 383,055 metrictonnes of cargo were trans-ported, to 533,964 metrictonnes in the 2010/2011 finan-cial year.

The target is to increasefreight traffic to one millionmetric tonnes a year over thenext few years.

Locomotive on Tazara railway

The railway was initiatedby the founding President ofTanzania, Julius K. Nyerere,and Zambia's first President,Dr Kenneth Kaunda. r

THE AFRICAN Union hasagreed to strengthen intra-re-gional trade by removing bar-riers that presently hindercommercial transactionsamong member states.

Outgoing chairperson ofthe AU Commission, JeanPing, said intra-African tradepresently stands at about 10percent of the continent’s totaltransactions with the rest of

issue of poverty and underde-velopment on the continentwhile promoting intra-Africantrade as a consolidation factorof peace.

“There is no doubt thattrade amongst our countries iskey to the attainment of sus-tainable economic develop-ment, creation of jobs,particularly for the youth andto the effective integration of

SOUTHERN AFRICA Today 5

A F R I C A N U N I O N

the world, a worrying situa-tion.

The AU Heads of State andGovernment exchanged viewson the development agendafor the continent under thetheme “Boosting Intra-AfricanTrade”.

The recently elected PrimeMinister of Lesotho, ThomasThabane, expressed the urgentneed for Africa to address the

THE SADC-sponsored candidate, NkosazanaDlamini-Zuma of South Africa, has etched hername in history books after becoming the firstsouthern African to head the African UnionCommission.

Dlamini-Zuma, 63, defeated the incumbent,Jean Ping, in elections held at the AU Summit inJuly to choose the chairperson of the AU Com-mission, which is the secretariat of the 54-nationAfrican Union.

Dlamini-Zuma’s victory followed intense lobby-ing by SADC Member States, who argued that it wastime for Southern Africa to lead the AU Commission sinceother regions in Africa have had the opportunity to occupythe top post.

West and Central Africa have already had their candidatesoccupying the top AU post, with Omar Alpha Konare of Maliand Ping, from Gabon.

A skilled administrator and diplomat with a pan-Africanvision, Dlamini-Zuma was quick to put aside partisan poli-tics as she called for African unity following her victory.

“I am not an Anglophone, I’m a Zulu,” she said in her firstfew remarks after winning the election.

She made it clear that she would be “implementing pro-grammes... agreed upon by everybody” rather than “consult-ing the Anglophone and the Francophone.”

Dlamini-Zuma has held key ministerial positions in everySouth African government since Nelson Mandela becamepresident following the first democratic elections in 1994.

A medical doctor by training, Dlamini-Zuma was SouthAfrica’s first black Minister of Health between 1994 and1999when she showed exemplary initiative in transforming thecountry's health system by introducing legislation that pro-vided the poor with access to free basic healthcare.

She scored another first in 1999 when she was appointedby then President Thabo Mbeki as the first woman foreignminister in a democratic South Africa, and she served in thispost for 10 years.

Africa into the global econ-omy,” Thabane said.

The highlight of the sum-mit for SADC was the electionof the SADC candidate,Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma,currently the South AfricanMinister of Home Affairs, asthe new Chairperson of theAU Commission, and of Eras-tus Mwencha from Kenya asdeputy chairperson. r

She became Minister of Home Affairs on 10May 2009, the third deployment in the Executiveby three successive presidents.

Her new responsibilities are a continuationof decades of life of struggle and sacrifice thatstarted in the 1970s when she was an activist inKwaZulu Natal, where she rose through theranks to become vice-president of the thenSouth African Students Organisation (SASO) led

by the late Steve Biko.Her activism did not escape the attention of the

apartheid security apparatus, which, through a sustainedcampaign of harassment, ultimately forced her into exile in the1970s to join the African National Congress (ANC).

Armed with a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Zool-ogy and Botany, she continued her studies at the University ofBristol while simultaneously serving as the chairperson of theANC Youth League in Great Britain during 1977 and 1978.

Upon graduation in 1978, she worked at Frenchay Hospitalin Bristol for two years, followed by another two-year stint atthe Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital in Berkshire.

Between 1980 and 1985, Dlamini-Zuma was deployed bythe ANC to Mbabane Government Hospital in Swazilandwhere she was responsible for the medical needs of ANCcadres in that country.

She was deployed to the ANC’s health department in Zam-bia during 1989 and 1990, where she played a leading role inthe healthcare of the community in exile and made a major con-tribution to the drafting of a post-apartheid health policy.

When the ANC was unbanned in 1990, Dlamini-Zuma re-turned with other ANC members from exile to help to reorgan-ise the ANC legally inside the country and to prepare fornegotiations between the ANC and the apartheid government.

Dlamini-Zuma brings this accumulation of experienceover the past 40 years to the management of the AfricanUnion, and faces vast expectations from Africa, and partic-ularly southern Africa. She is the first woman to hold thepost of Commision chair. r

ProfileDr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

AU targets improved intra-regional trade

6 SOUTHERN AFRICA Today, August 2012

region's access to hy-dropower and reduce thecountry's dependency on oiland coal generated powerand will reduce the electricblackouts.

“Upgrading of the Kafue -Livingstone transmission lineproject will provide extrapower to the southern andwestern provinces of Zambiaand other countries in theSouthern Africa Power Pool,”said ZESCO managing direc-tor, Cyprian Chitundu.

The project is expected tocost US$100 million, with theEuropean Investment Bank(EIB) meeting about a third ofthe cost. Zambia signed aUS$30 million agreement withEIB in May to fund the up-grade of the Kafue-Living-stone transmission.

The funding agreement wassigned in Lusaka by ZambianMinister of Finance, Alexander

Chikwanda and senior EIB of-ficials. The World Bank, EU-Africa Infrastructure TrustFund and ZESCO will be co-fi-nanciers for the project, whichis expected to be completed bythe end of 2014.

“Access to electricity is es-sential to achieve the Millen-nium Development Goals andpromote sustainable develop-ment. The European Invest-ment Bank is committed tosupporting the Zambian en-ergy sector and contributing toglobal goals highlighted by the2012 International Year of Sus-tainable Energy for All,” saidPlutarchos Sakellaris, Euro-pean Investment Bank VicePresident.

The original line was builtin the 1970s to allow easy andcost-efficient upgrading whennecessary. The upgradingscheme will use existing infra-structure and proven technol-ogy, resulting in lowenvironmental impact and re-duced investment costs.

The EU-Africa Infrastruc-ture Trust Fund has agreed toprovide a €5.55 million (aboutUS$7 million) grant, split intwo components.

The first is a €5.2 million(US$6.9 million) interest ratesubsidy while €350,000 (aboutUS$439,000) will be a technicalassistance grant to supportprocurement and monitoring.sardc.net r

by Patson Phiri

REGIONAL POWER tradingin southern Africa is set to im-prove following plans by Zam-bia to refurbish keytransmission infrastructurethat connects the country toneighbouring Namibia and therest of the Southern AfricanPower Pool (SAPP).

Zambia is set to upgradethe 341km electricity transmis-sion line between Kafue, justoutside Lusaka, and Living-stone in the southern part ofthe country.

The upgrade is expected toincrease the capacity of the lineto 330kiloVolts (kV) from itscurrent 220kV capacity. Thiswill increase reliability andquality of domestic powertransmission as well as facili-tate regional power trade withcountries in the 12-memberSAPP.

The project will improve re-gional energy distribution andtreble electricity transmissioncapacity between the VictoriaFalls hydropower station andLusaka and is a priority initia-tive for the Zambia ElectricitySupply Corporation (ZESCO).

The upgrade is vital for en-hanced supply within Zambiaand to relieve congestion on theSAPP grid to ensure that supplyof energy keeps pace with eco-nomic growth in the region. Itwill enhance the energy link be-tween Zambia and Namibiaand enable the possible tradingof electricity through theCaprivi interconnector.

The project will includeconstruction of new substa-tions and replacement of the50-year-old energy infrastruc-ture. Overall transmission ca-pacity will be increased from120 MW to 360 MW.

Upgrade of the transmis-sion line will also increase the

SOUTHERN AFRICA has intensified effortsto lure investors to develop an electricitytransmission interconnector linking Zim-babwe, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia.

Commonly known as ZiZaBoNa, the trans-mission interconnector project has the capacityto increase power trading among the participat-ing utilities, as well as provide an alternativepower transmission route and help decongestthe existing central transmission corridor.

The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP),which coordinates the planning, generation,transmission and marketing of electricity on be-half of Member State utilities in SADC, said aninvestor’s roundtable was held in July to lurepotential financiers for the project.

The roundtable held in Swakopmund,Namibia, in July targeted funding amountingto US$223 million for the project.

The four countries’ respective utility com-panies – the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Au-thority (ZESA), Zambia Electricity Supply

Company (ZESCO), Botswana Power Corpo-ration (BPC) and Namibia Power Company(NamPower) – are expected to finance partsof the project that fall within their nationalboundaries.

The project is to be implemented in twophases. The first phase will cover the con-struction of a 120-kilometre 330 kiloVolt linefrom Hwange Power Station to Victoria Fallswhere a switching station will be built on theZimbabwe side. The line will extend to a sub-station at Livingstone in Zambia.

The second phase, which will be financedunder a special company to be called ZiZ-aBoNa Private Limited, will involve the con-struction of a 300-km 330kV line fromLivingstone to Katima Mulilo in Namibia,through Pandamatenga in Botswana.

The Zimbabwe-Zambia interconnector willbe built as a high voltage line with a transmis-sion capacity of 430kV. However, it will operateas a 330kV line during the first phase. r

SADC lures investors for ZiZaBoNa project

Upgrade of Zambian transmission infrastructure to boost SADC energy security

E N E R G Y

Electricity pylons on regional grid

SOUTHERN AFRICA Today 7

I N F R A S T R U C T U R E

ment Conference be-tween January andMarch 2013” to lurepotential investors.Road shows are alsoplanned in Asia, Eu-rope and the UnitedStates for the samepurpose.

The master planwill be implementedover three five-yearintervals – shortterm (2012-2017),medium term (2017-2022) and long term (2022-2027).

This is in line with theSADC Vision 2027, a 15-yearimplementation horizon forforecasting infrastructure re-quirements in the region.

It is also in line with theAfrican Union’s Programmefor Infrastructure Develop-ment of Africa (PIDA) and willconstitute a key input into theproposed tripartite Free TradeArea made up of SADC, theCommon Market for Easternand Southern Africa(COMESA) and the EastAfrican Community (EAC)

The SADC master plan willguide implementation of coor-dinated, integrated, efficient,trans-boundary infrastructurenetworks in the six prioritysectors of energy, transport,tourism, information technol-ogy, meteorology and water.

SOUTHERN AFRICA’S long-awaited Regional Infrastruc-ture Development Master Planis now ready for approval bythe SADC Heads of State andGovernment Summit set forMaputo, Mozambique in Au-gust.

This follows the finalisationof the master plan by ministersresponsible for infrastructurein the Southern African Devel-opment Community (SADC),who met in Luanda, Angola inlate June.

If endorsed by the southernAfrican leaders, the masterplan would guide develop-ment in key infrastructuresuch as road, rail and ports,and would also act as a frame-work for planning and cooper-ation with developmentpartners and the private sector.

Speaking at the meeting ofSADC ministers responsiblefor infrastructure, the SADCDeputy Executive Secretary re-sponsible for regional integra-tion, João Caholo said themaster plan is a product of“deep” stakeholder consulta-tion and, therefore, its successwill also depend on collectiveimplementation by all memberstates.

He said as soon as the planis approved, the SADC Secre-tariat would “facilitate and co-ordinate the convening of aSADC Infrastructure Invest-

SOUTH AFRICA is set to be-come a leader in the green en-ergy revolution with a giantsolar park planned which willbe the largest in the world.

The R150-billion rand park– planned for the hot, dryNorthern Cape province – willbe built over thousands ofhectares and provide 5,000megawatts of electricity,

which will be fed into the na-tional grid.

The park will be built instages over nine years, but thefirst sections will be opera-tional as early as this year.

A solar park is a concen-trated zone of solar plants thatare built in clusters, sharingcommon transmission andother infrastructure.

The project is a partner-ship between the SouthAfrican government, statepower utility Eskom and theClinton Climate Change Ini-tiative.

An investors conference, torun from 28 to 29 October, isexpected to attract additionalstakeholders from the privatesector. BuaNews r

accelerating regionalintegration throughbroadband intercon-nectivity within andamong SADC mem-ber states; reducingthe cost of doing busi-ness; and improvingreliability and secu-rity of ICT infrastruc-ture.

The Water SectorPlan prioritises five

goals, which includeincreasing the overall

water storage in the region; ir-rigated land for food security;hydropower generation for en-ergy security; increasing accessto safe drinking water; and en-hancing sanitation services forSADC citizens.

The Tourism Sector Plan isgeared towards achieving en-hanced socio-economic devel-opment; facilitating jointmarketing of SADC as a singledestination; increasing tourismarrivals and tourism receiptsfrom source markets; and de-veloping the tourism sector inan environmentally sustain-able manner.

Emphasis for the Meteorol-ogy Sector Plan is put on theneed to ensure the availabilityof timely early warning infor-mation relating to adverseweather and climate variabil-ity impacts. Another highlightof the Meteorology Sector Planwill be the development of aframework for harmonized in-dicators for the provision ofrelevant climate forecasting in-formation to facilitate prepara-tions of mitigation measuresagainst droughts, floods andcyclones.

The identified priority in-frastructure projects will beimplemented at a cost of aboutUS$500 billion, with transport,energy and water taking upthe major share of the fundingrequirements. sardc.net r

World’s largest solar park planned for South Africa

In the energy sector, it is an-ticipated that the plan will ad-dress four key areas of energysecurity, improving access tomodern energy services, tap-ping the abundant energy re-sources and increasing financialinvestment whilst enhancingenvironmental sustainability.

Regarding the sub-sectorsof road, rail, ports, inland wa-terways and air transport net-works, the Transport SectorPlan will address four keyareas, namely improving ac-cess to the seamless transportcorridors value chain; reduc-ing the cost of transportation;enhancing competitivenessand providing safe and securetransport services.

The Information Communi-cation Technology (ICT) SectorPlan is designed to address fourkey areas: ensuring accessibility,including universal access tobroadband ICT technologies;

SADC infrastructure plan ready for approval

Matimba power station, South Africa

8 SOUTHERN AFRICA Today, August 2012

UN member statescannot be unaware of thecommon responsibility beforethem, that is ridding the world of its current interre-lated crises of an environmental, economic and equal-ity nature.

And the previous UN conferences did well to putsustainable development discourse on the global agenda, notablyfrom the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment,credited for giving global impetus to the debate on balancing eco-nomic growth and development with ecology.

The 1972 Stockholm conference culminated in the BrundtlandCommission, appointed in 1983 by the UN Secretary General JavierPerez de Cuellar and named after its chair, Gro Harlem Brundtland,former prime minister of Norway.

The Brundtland Commission report crafted what has now be-come widely accepted as the definition of “sustainable develop-ment”, casting it as “development that meets the needs of thepresent without compromising the ability of future generations tomeet their own needs”.

The ensuing debate on the correlation between environment anddevelopment was taken up at a much higher level at the 1992 UnitedNations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio deJaneiro, also known as the Earth Summit and hailed then as thebiggest-ever political gathering with 172 governments represented,108 of them sending their heads of state or government.

The 1992 Earth Summit arguably ended what was increasinglythen seen as a false dichotomy between environment and develop-ment. Among other achievements, Rio 1992 was credited for twobinding agreements, namely the Convention on Biological Biodiver-sity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN-FCCC), the latter of which in turn led to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997,aimed at fighting global warming.

Ten years later came the World Summit on Sustainable Develop-ment in 2002 in South Africa, which produced the JohannesburgDeclaration, building on earlier declarations made at Stockholm in1972 and Rio in 1992.

Unlike Rio 1992, the Johannesburg summit was organized aroundpartnerships designed to give impetus to the Millennium Develop-ment Goals (MDGs), rather than producing new agreements.

Critics, however, have pointed out that many of the commitmentsmade at most of the UN conferences on sustainable developmentpreceding Rio+20 have not been realized, particularly regarding

by Munetsi Madakufamba in Rio de Janeiro

THE QUESTION of whether the Rio+20 Summit held in Brazil inJune succeeded in producing a satisfactory outcome can be a matterof conjecture.

However, what is in no doubt is the fact that the conference pro-duced a 49-page outcome document, titled “The Future We Want”.

The outcome document contains what critics have called weak, non-binding commitments, confirmed by what China and the G77 – in-cluding most of Africa – saw as a constant watering down of the text.

Another major concern was that the declaration has no mecha-nism for implementation, or the means of financing it. For example,while acknowledging the need to mobilise resources, there were nospecific figures committed.

Others have hailed the conference for at least reaffirming past ac-tionable plans such as Agenda 21, a comprehensive blueprint of actionagreed at the 1992 Rio Summit, to be taken globally, nationally, and lo-cally by organizations of the UN, governments, and other stakeholdersin every area in which humans directly affect the environment.

Rio+20 has further been criticized, like so many past global ne-gotiations – the most recent being the 17th Conference of Parties(COP 17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange held in Durban, South Africa – for failing to reach interna-tional agreement or failing to reach outcomes that are binding, withclear action towards sustainable development.

But was the Rio declaration a glass half full or half empty?Put simply, the task before world leaders, heads of international

organizations and civil society at Rio+20 was to make decisions, an-nounce commitments and galvanize action on how humanity canreduce poverty and inequality and ensure environmental protectionon an ever more crowded planet.

Yet global consensus on the many challenges that face humanitytoday has never been easy.

Moreso in a world where the UN member states have, willingly orunwillingly, embraced globalization, but are now failing to govern it.

Global population has increased to seven billion – projected to hiteight billion by 2030 – and so has the pressure on the earth’s naturalresources. And the gap between the rich and the poor has widened.

Rio + 20 outcomes:Half full or half empty glass?

S U S T A I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T

such fundamental issues as povertyreduction and cleaning up or protec-tion of the environment.

They cite the example of theKyoto Protocol, the only legally

binding treaty to combat climate change the world presently has,yet some major polluters have either not acceded to, notably theUnited States, or pulled out, in the case of Canada.

Poverty has either become more acute or has remained largelyunchanged.

From an African perspective, nowhere in the world is poverty moreserious than on the continent. Further, recent studies have shown thatAfrica’s climate is warming faster than the global average.

And sustainable development issues and priorities vary fromcontinent to continent, and from nation to nation.

So 20 years on since the last Earth Summit in Rio, the expectationsfor 2012 were as diverse as the stakeholders participating either asgovernments, international organizations or various other groupsknown in UN lingo as “major groups”.

There was no doubt how much of a herculean task was before thenegotiators going into the conference as they faced the difficult taskof balancing the enormously diverse views in more than 6,000 pagesof contributions from the governments, international organizationsand the major groups.

The negotiations could not have been made any easier with asmany as 50,000 participants at the official conference and an esti-mated equal number at the parallel People’s Summit (for civil soci-ety groups and business).

If the diversity of views – whether on basis of circumstances ofcountry development levels or group interests of stakeholders –made the negotiations a charged affair, the loca-tion of the official summit and the people’ssummit was always going to cause the finaloutcome to be viewed with suspicion from acivil society perspective, with the two eventspitched 40km apart.

For some, the text of the Rio declaration wasrejected well before the negotiators had evenlanded in Rio de Janeiro – on the grounds ofwhat was deemed a flawed process, includingthe selection of the conference themes.

The conference had two themes agreed upon by the UN memberstates:• Green economy within the context of sustainable development

and poverty eradication; and• Institutional framework for sustainable development.

While Africa has grudgingly embraced the green economy con-cept, concerns have been perceptible, particularly on the potentialabuse of it by rich nations to impose indirect trade barriers on thepretext of compliance with new requirements during the global tran-sition to “green products”.

Debate on the green economy and climate change has pitted de-veloping countries against developed nations and has been moremanifest on the principle of “common but differentiated responsi-bilities”.

The notion of “common but differentiated responsibilities”, aris-ing out of the 1992 UNFCCC, is a key principle of the Kyoto Proto-col, where parties recognize the direct responsibility of developedcountries in global climate change as well as the special needs andcircumstances of developing countries.

However, its interpretation has been a subject of immense debatein global negotiations on sustainable development with developedcountries accused of using every trick in the book to renege on theirpast promises.

Amidst recrimination and charges of strong arm tactics – that hasbecome the hallmark of global negotiations – a developing coun-tries-backed proposal for a US$30 billion global fund for sustainabledevelopment was shot down by the EU before its merits could evenbe discussed.

With no financial means for implementation, it left many partic-ipants, particularly from Africa, wondering whether the lofty aspi-

rations expressed in the 49-page outcomedocument will not remain a chimera.However, Secretary-General of the Rio +

20 Summit, Sha Zukang, remained opti-mistic of the outcome.

“We think the text contains a lot of ac-tion … and if follow-up measures aretaken, it will indeed make a tremendousdifference in generating positive globalchange,” he said in defense of the agree-ment. r

SOUTHERN AFRICA Today 9

S U S T A I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T

10 SOUTHERN AFRICA Today, August 2012

C L I M A T E C H A N G E

EASTERN AND southernAfrican countries haveestablished a joint climatechange programme toharmonise responseprogrammes in the regionsrepresented by three regionalbodies.

The launch of the joint five-year programme on ClimateChange Adaptation and Miti-gation by the Common Marketfor Eastern and SouthernAfrica (COMESA), EastAfrican Community (EAC)and SADC is expected to helpaddress the impacts of climatechange through commonadaptation and mitigation ac-tions that enhance socio-eco-nomic resilience.

So far, a total of about US$90million has been raised to fundvarious climate change adapta-tion and mitigation pro-grammes in the two regions.

Speaking soon after signingthe Tripartite Agreement forthe Implementation of the Pro-gramme on Climate ChangeAdaptation and Mitigation ineastern and southern Africa,SADC Executive Secretary,Tomáz Augusto Salomão saidthe joint plan has the capacityto address climate change inthe region.

“The overall objective ofthe programme is to addressthe impacts of climate changethrough successful adaptationand mitigation actions aimedat building socio-economic re-silience of communitiesthrough Climate-Smart Agri-culture (CSA),” Salomão, whois also the chairperson of theCOMESA-EAC-SADC tripar-tite, said in a statement.

The scale and gravity of theimpacts of climate change atthe global level, particularly indeveloping countries, is a seri-ous challenge to sustainabledevelopment in the 21st cen-tury.

Therefore, the COMESA-EAC-SADC region, which isheavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture for food secu-rity, has embarked to thisinitiative to strengthen effortsto address climate changewhich is increasingly affect-ing socio-economic develop-ment.

The joint climate changeprogramme is expected to in-crease investments in climate-resilient and carbon-efficient

ment to address climatechange in the region.

The Rio+20 summit ac-knowledged climate change asa cross-cutting and persistentcrisis while resolving to in-crease agricultural production. The signing of the agreementalso provides an opportunityfor the inclusion of climatechange as one of the areas ofcooperation under theCOMESA-EAC-SADC tripar-

tite framework. r

agricultural practices andstrengthen linkages betweenagriculture, forestry and otherland uses in eastern andsouthern Africa.

The signing of the tripartiteagreement after the Rio+20summit held under the aus-pices of the United NationsConference on Sustainable De-velopment (UNCSD) in Junein Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,demonstrates the three re-gional communities’ commit-

COMESA, EAC, SADC in joint climate change strategy

or pull people out of poverty,it’s the last will and testa-ment of a destructive twenti-eth century developmentmodel.”

The Rio+20 summit washeld under two themes.These were “Green Economyin the Context of SustainableDevelopment and PovertyEradication” and “Institu-tional Framework for Sustain-able Development”.

A total of seven key areaswere identified for discussion– energy, water, food security,jobs, cities, oceans and disas-ters. These areas consideredcritical towards poverty re-duction and sustainable de-velopment.

“This is an outcome thatmakes nobody happy,”Rio+20 Secretary-General, ShaZukang, said at the conclusionof the summit. r

DEVELOPMENT EXPERTShave said the Rio+20 summitcompromise deal presented as“The Future We Want” fallsshort of meeting expectationsof developing countries.

Instead of reaching con-sensus on how to rescue theplanet during the United Na-tions Conference on Sustain-able Development held in Riode Janeiro, Brazil, in June,deep divisions remained onthe way forward towards acommon goal.

The Africa Progress Panel(APP) has expressed disap-pointment at the failure of theRio +20 summit to delivermeaningful and measurablecommitments to combat cli-mate change and its effectsacross Africa and other devel-oping regions.

“The lack of commitmentto defined and measurable

sustainable developmentgoals at the Rio +20 Summit isa profoundly disturbing out-come,” said APP chairpersonand former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

“We all have an obligationto the world’s poorest andmost vulnerable people, whobear the brunt of the globalecological crisis – and to fu-ture generations, to do better.”

Executive director ofGreenpeace, Kumi Naidooagreed, saying that Rio+20had taken a step back insteadof moving the sustainable de-velopment agenda forward.

“The future we want hasgotten a little further awaytoday. Rio+20 has turned intoan epic failure. It has failed onequity, failed on ecology andfailed on economy,” he said.

“This is not a foundationon which to grow economies

Rio+20 falls short of expectations

SOUTHERN AFRICA Today 11

GLOBAL LEADERS have ac-knowledged the vital roleplayed by women in achievingsustainable development andresolved to prioritise measuresto promote gender equality andwomen’s empowerment.

The United Nations Confer-ence on Sustainable Develop-ment held in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil, in June noted that, al-though there has been someprogress on gender equality,the potential of women to en-gage in, contribute to and ben-efit sustainable development asleaders, participants and agentsof change has not been fully re-alised due to persistent socialand economic inequalities.

The 193 leaders who at-tended the conference re-solved to accelerate theimplementation of their re-spective commitments con-tained in the Convention onthe Elimination of all formsof Discrimination againstWomen, as well as Agenda 21,the Beijing Declaration andPlatform for Action, and theUN Millennium Declaration.

“We support prioritisingmeasures to promote genderequality empowerment ofwomen in all spheres of oursocieties, including the re-moval of barriers to their fulland equal participation in de-cision-making and manage-ment at all levels,” the leaderssaid in a communiqué at theend of the conference.

They resolved to unlock thepotential of women as driversof sustainable development,including through the repealof discriminatory laws, ensur-ing equal access to justice andlegal support, reform of insti-tutions to ensure competenceand capacity for gender main-streaming as well as the devel-opment and adoption ofinnovative measures to ad-dress informal, harmful prac-

tices that act as barriers to gen-der equality.

“In this regard, we committo creating an enabling envi-ronment for improving the sit-uation of women and girlseverywhere, particularly inrural areas and local commu-nities and among indigenouspeoples and ethnic minori-ties,” the leaders said.

They undertook to institutelegislative and administrativereforms to give women equalrights with men with regard toeconomic resources, includingaccess to ownership and con-trol over land and other formsof property, credit, inheritance,natural resources and appro-priate new technology.

Other measures includepromotion of equal access ofwomen and girls to education,basic services, economic op-portunities and health-careservices, including addressingwomen’s sexual and repro-ductive health, and ensuringuniversal access to safe, effec-tive, affordable and acceptablemodern methods of familyplanning.

Southern Africa is one ofthe regions that have recordedprogress in mainstreaminggender in policies and devel-opmental processes.

There has been someprogress towards gendermainstreaming in politics andan increase in the number ofwomen in political decision-making positions in mostSADC Member States sincethe adoption of the SADCDeclaration on Gender andDevelopment by SADC lead-ers in 1997 following the UNFourth World Women Confer-ence in Beijing, China in 1995.

The highest positions ingovernment reached bywomen to date have been thePresidency in Malawi andMauritius, Vice Presidency in

South Africa and Zimbabwe,Prime Minister in Mozam-bique and Deputy Prime Min-ister in Namibia.

A Tanzanian woman hasbeen deputy secretary-generalof the United Nations for thepast five years, and a SouthAfrican woman has just beenelected to head the AfricanUnion Commission.

There are five womenSpeakers of Parliament or Sen-ate Presidents in the region, inBotswana, Lesotho, Mozam-bique, Tanzania and Zim-babwe.

Southern Africa had by2009 reached the third highestpercentage of women in poli-tics at the parliamentary level,with 20 percent, a figure sur-

passed only by the Nordiccountries with 40.8 percentand the Americas at 21.4 per-cent.

The region’s average per-centage of women in Parlia-ment is higher than the worldaverage of 18.5 percent, theSub-Saharan average of 18.6percent, Asia at 18.4 percent,the Pacific at 15.2 percent, andthe Arab States (9.1 percent)which is the lowest.

However, more vigorousmeasures are needed if south-ern Africa is to attain the 50-percent target forrepresentation of women inpolitical and decision-makingpositions at all levels by 2015in line with regional and con-tinental targets. r

ASHA-ROSE MIGIRO fromthe United Republic of Tanza-nia has been appointed as theUN Secretary-General’s Spe-cial Envoy for HIV and AIDSin Africa.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said Migiro is uniquelyqualified for this job due to her“experience in responding toAIDS as UN Deputy Secre-tary-General, combined withher many years as an advocatefor health and social justice inAfrica.”

Migiro served as the UnitedNations Deputy Secretary-Gen-

Migiro appointed Special Envoy forHIV and AIDS in Africa

eral from 2007 to 2012, and wasactively involved in promotingthe UN response to AIDS, withspecial emphasis on reducingthe vulnerability of women andgirls and ensuring the rights ofpeople living with HIV.

“I am honoured to acceptthis appointment at this cru-cial moment in the AfricanAIDS response,” she said.“Now is the time to take ourefforts to a new level.”

Migiro served as Tanzania’sMinister of Foreign Affairsand International Cooperationfrom 2006 to 2007—the firstwoman to hold that positionsince independence in 1961.She was previously the Minis-ter for Community Develop-ment, Gender and Childrenfor five years. Prior to Govern-ment service, she pursued acareer in academia, andserved as a member of the UNCommittee on the Eliminationof Discrimination againstWomen in 2000. r

Asha-Rose Migiro

Leadership role of women acknowledged

G E N D E R

The SADC ministers re-solved that it was time to ad-dress the challenges facing thesector. The ministers said thereis need to also look at the rele-vance of the programmes thatare being offered in SADC in-stitutions for the “develop-mental needs of our region”.

The ministers urged all rel-evant stakeholders to mobiliseand invest more into infra-structure and human re-sources, and improveleadership, governance andmanagement of higher educa-tion institutions. r

E D U C A T I O N

SADC HAS established atechnical committee to spear-head the revival of higher ed-ucation development andtraining in southern Africa.

The committee, to be madeup of senior education officersfrom across the region, was setup by ministers responsiblefor higher education in SADCMember States who met in Jo-hannesburg, South Africa inJune.

The ministerial meetingtasked the SADC TechnicalCommittee on Higher Educa-tion and Training and Researchand Development to develop aregional strategic plan onhigher education and training,research development.

The committee is expectedto, among other things, reviewaccess to higher education andparticipation rates in southernAfrica, as well as funding andcapacity-building of highereducation to guide proper in-vestments for the next 10-15years. “This plan will out-line key priorities for both theshort and long term,” SouthAfrican Deputy Minister ofHigher Education and Train-ing, Hlengiwe Mkhize, said.

“If all the plans made bythe technical committee are ef-fectively and successfully im-plemented, we would see apositive impact on the highereducation and training sectorwithin the SADC region.”

The ministers noted that,due to various factors such aslimited financial resources, theregion is experiencing verylow levels of enrolment andparticipation in higher educa-tion when compared to otherregions in Africa and globally.The quality of the education isalso deteriorating while thenumber of academic staff haddeclined.

SADC Protocol on Education and Training

SADC MEMBER States agreed in September2007 to cooperate in education and trainingunder this Protocol for purposes of achievingthe following objectives: • To develop and implement a common sys-

tem of regular collection and reporting ofinformation by Member States about thecurrent status and future demand and sup-ply, and the priority areas for provision ofeducation and training in the region;

• To establish mechanisms and institutionalarrangements that enables Member Statesto pool their resources to effectively andefficiently produce the required profes-sional, technical, research and managerialpersonnel to plan and manage the devel-opment process in general and across allsectors in the region;

• To promote and coordinate the formula-tion and implementation of comparableand appropriate policies, strategies andsystems of education and training inMember States;

• To promote and coordi-nate the formulation and im-plementation of policies, strategies andprogrammes for the promotion and appli-cation of science and technology, includ-ing modern information technology andresearch and development in the region;

• To work towards the reduction and even-tual elimination of constraints to betterand freer access, by citizens of MemberStates, to good quality education andtraining opportunities within the region;

• To work towards the relaxation and even-tual elimination of immigration formali-ties in order to facilitate freer movementof students and staff within the region forthe specific purposes of study, teaching,research and any other pursuits relating toeducation and training; and

• To progressively achieve the equivalence,harmonisation and standardisation of theeducation and training systems in the re-gion. r

SADC establishes committee to drive highereducation development

“The leadership and man-agement of higher educationinstitutions are in many casesweak, while the quality ofteachers and the education thatis available does not alwaysprovide relevant and adequateknowledge and skills requiredfor the labour market,” theministers said in a statement.

“As a result, many youngpeople who complete second-ary education do not proceedto higher education. It is clearthat higher education is notadequately contributing tosocio-economic development,improving the well-being ofthe majority poor citizens, andto realising the regional inte-gration aspirations of the peo-ple of SADC.”

According to a study by theSouthern African Regional Uni-versities Association (SARUA),the region has the lowest levels

of higher education provisionand enrolments in the world,despite the growing demandfor higher education in Africancountries.

SARUA said while MemberStates have invested heavily ineducation over the past fouryears, most of the investmentwent towards primary educa-tion and less on higher educa-tion.

“As a result, higher educa-tion enrolment outcomes re-flect poorly on the educationinvestment made,” reads partof the SARUA report.

12 SOUTHERN AFRICA Today, August 2012

SOUTHERN AFRICA Today 13

THE PROPOSED BRICS De-velopment Bank involvingfive emerging economies –Brazil, Russia, India, Chinaand South Africa – is expectedto be established next year inSouth Africa.

The launch of the BRICSDevelopment Bank is ex-pected to provide developingand emerging countries withan alternative source of fund-ing, and considerable ground-work for the bank launch wascovered during the 2012BRICS Summit held in Indiain April.

The proposed bank is ex-pected to finance infrastruc-ture and sustainabledevelopment in developingcountries. This follows con-cerns that existing multilateralfinancial institutions are doinglittle to promote developmentin poorer countries.

Furthermore, existing inter-national financial institutionsare dominated by Westernpowers and often impose strin-gent conditions for accessingloans or debt relief. r

ment goals, enhancement ofpeople-to-people friendship,and promotion of peace andstability in Africa.

China will during the nextthree years launch the “Initia-tive on China-Africa Coopera-tive Partnership for Peace andSecurity” and deepen cooper-ation with the AU and Africancountries on peace and secu-rity, Hu said.

China will provide finan-cial support for the AU peace-keeping missions and thedevelopment of the AfricanStandby Force, and train moreofficials in peace and securityaffairs and peacekeepers forthe AU.

China also said it will sup-port the African integrationprocess, and promote ex-changes between the people,media and scholars of Chinaand Africa to “lay a solid foun-dation of public support” tothe relations.

Beijing pledged to providea US$20 billion credit line toAfrican countries over thenext three years. The loanswill support infrastructure,agriculture, manufacturingand development of small andmedium-sized businesses.

FOCAC is a collective con-sultation and dialogue mecha-nism between China andAfrican countries launched in2000. The 6th FOCAC ministe-rial conference will be held inJohannesburg, South Africa, in2015. r

CHINA AND Africa haveagreed on a new plan of actionfor the three years to 2015 asthe two sides strive to achievea “new type of strategic part-nership”.

Ministers in charge of for-eign affairs and economic coop-eration from China and 50African countries resolved atthe 5th Ministerial Conferenceof the Forum on China-AfricaCooperation (FOCAC) held inJuly in Beijing, China, todeepen the strategic partner-ship underpinned by the val-

ues of political equality, mutualtrust, economic win-win coop-eration and cultural exchanges.

The Beijing Action Plan(2013-2015), which wasadopted together with the Bei-jing Declaration, will focus ontrade, investment, poverty re-duction, infrastructure, capac-ity-building, food security,and political cooperation,among other sectors.

China pledged to imple-ment a “special plan on tradewith Africa,” under which itwill send investment andtrade promotion missions toAfrica, expand imports fromAfrica and support the hold-ing of African products exhibi-tions to help African countriesexport their competitive goodsto China.

This will include technicalsupport for intensive process-ing of African agro-produceand industrial raw materials,and increasing value additionof Africa's primary productsthrough investment.

Chinese companies will beencouraged to establish pro-cessing and manufacturingbases in Africa to help raise theadded value of African exports.

China pledged to furtheropen its market to Africanproducts and phase in zero-tariff treatment to 97 percentof the products from the leastdeveloped African countries,including the establishment of“a consultation mechanism onthe place of origin for goodsenjoying zero-tariff treatmentand improving the coopera-tion mechanism to implementzero-tariff treatment,” theministers said.

The two sides announcedthat they would “consider theestablishment of a China-Africa energy forum under theframework of FOCAC to pro-mote China-Africa energy ex-changes and cooperation”

while strengthening coopera-tion in clean energy and re-newable resources projects.

“In view of the strong com-plementarity and cooper-ation potential betweenChina and Africa in en-ergy and resources, thetwo sides will encourageand support joint devel-opment and proper use oftheir energy and resources byenterprises of the two sides,”the ministers said.

In terms of cooperation ininternational affairs, the twosides agreed to uphold thecentral role of the United Na-tions in international affairsand promote multilateralismand democracy in interna-tional relations.

They reaffirmed the needfor necessary reforms of theUN, noting that priorityshould be given to increasingthe representation of Africancountries in the UN SecurityCouncil and other institutions.

South Africa, which takesover as co-chair of the FOCACfor six years, said it would doits utmost to carry out the ob-jectives of the Beijing ActionPlan (2013-2015), deepenAfrican countries' engagementin the activities of the forumand make the forum compati-ble with the proposals of theAfrican Union.

Chinese President Hu Jin-tao proposed measures in fivepriority areas, including finan-cial assistance to the AU’speacekeeping missions, toboost China's relations withthe continent.

The new focus areas are theexpansion of investment andfinancing to support sustain-able development in Africa,increased assistance to Africa,support for Africa’s integra-tion process and strengthen-ing of continental capacity inexecuting overall develop-

BRICS development bank on the cards

C H I N A - A F R I C A

China, Africa target “new strategic partnership”

President Jacob Zuma with President Hu Jintao.Iinset, President Thomas Boni Yayi

14 SOUTHERN AFRICA Today, August 2012

E L E C T I O N S

The ND is a coalition ofseven parties while the CPOand FUMA are umbrellagroups made up of four andsix small parties, respectively.

Ferreira said of the 27 ap-plications submitted to thecourt, 18 were disqualified asthey did not meet the mini-mum requirement of 14,000signatures of supporters whoare registered as voters,among other reasons.

Among those rejected arethe Democratic Block (BD), ledby former ruling party mem-ber Justino Pinto de Andrade;and Popular Party (PP), whichwas formed by lawyer DavidMendes.

According to the NationalElectoral Commission (CNE),about nine million Angolansare registered to vote in theforthcoming elections.

CNE spokesperson JuliaFerreira said more than 10,780polling stations will be set uparound the country.

These will be the third elec-tions since Angola attained in-dependence from Portugal in1975. The first post-indepen-dence election was held in1992, before the civil war wasre-ignited by UNITA led byJonas Savimbi, and the secondpolls were held in 2008. Theconflict ended in 2002 with thedeath of Savimbi.

The MPLA won by morethan 81 percent and has usedits commanding parliamen-tary majority to pass a raft ofnew laws including a newconstitution that has abol-ished direct presidential elec-tions in favour of an electoralcollege.

Under the new ElectoralLaw, the President and VicePresident will be elected indi-rectly. The head of state willbe chosen from the partywith the parliamentary ma-jority. r

The five main parties in-clude the ruling PopularMovement for the Liberationof Angola (MPLA) and themain opposition NationalUnion for the Total Inde-pendence of Angola(UNITA). Others are the Na-tional Liberation Front of An-gola (FNLA), the Party forSocial Renovation (PRS) andthe Popular Party for Devel-opment (PAPOD).

The coalitions include theConvergence Angola Salva-tion Wide-Electoral Coalition(CASA-EC), which is an um-brella for four small partiesand is the brainchild of formersenior UNITA official, AbelChivukuvuku.

Other coalitions are the Op-position Political ConsultativeCouncil (CPO), New Democ-racy (ND) and United Front forChange of Angola (FUMA).

abling environment forholding credible, free

and fair elections,”the SADC leaderssaid in a commu-niqué.

The road-mapallows for the un-

conditional returnfrom exile of Ravalo-

manana and forthe establishmentof transitional in-

stitutions ahead of elections.The Extraordinary Sum-

mit noted that a SADC Liai-son Office established inNovember 2011 to supportthe implementation processwas fully operational, with of-ficers from the Troika of theOrgan on Politics, Defenceand Security Cooperation andrepresentatives of the SADCchair on the ground since Jan-uary 2012. r

X

Constitutional Court chair-person, Rui Ferreira said fiveof the parties will stand sepa-rately while the remainder arecoalitions made up of 20 smallparties that have expressed in-terest to take part in the elec-tions.

NINE POLITICAL partieshave been cleared to partici-pate in the Angolan parlia-mentary elections scheduledfor 31 August while 18 otherswere disqualified for failing tocomply with requirements ofthe country’s Electoral Law.

Nine parties register for Angolan elections

National Assembly of Angola

The peace road-mapseeks to return thecountry to constitu-tional normalcyfollowing a 2009coup that saw Ra-joelina unconstitu-tionally removeR a v a l o m a n a n afrom power with thesupport of thearmy. Madagas-car is currentlysuspended from SADC.

“Summit mandated theSADC mediator and theTroika of the Organ to facili-tate dialogue and convene ameeting between H.E. AndryRajoelina, president of theHigh Transition Authorityand H.E Marc Ravalomanana,former President as a matterof urgency in order to ensurefull implementation of theroadmap and create an en-

SADC HAS mandated for-mer Mozambican President,Joaquim Chissano, to facilitatea meeting between Madagas-car’s interim leader Andry Ra-joelina and deposed presidentMarc Ravalomanana with aview to speeding up imple-mentation of a peace roadmapthat is key to the holding ofcredible elections.

The Extraordinary Summitof SADC Heads of State andGovernment held in Luanda,Angola in June resolved thatChissano should urgently fa-cilitate dialogue and convenea meeting between Rajoelinaand Ravalomanana to bringback on track the implementa-tion of a roadmap signed byMalagasy political parties inSeptember 2011.

Chissano is the SADC me-diator in the Madagascar po-litical conflict.

SADC urges implementation of Madagascar roadmap

Former President J Chissano

Events Diary August-October 2012

August1-3, South Africa Agrarian Transformation, Economic Development &

Land Reform ConferenceThe event will bring together agricultural experts, re-searchers, academics and parliamentarians fromAfrican countries to discuss key issues on agricultureand land reform, including access to improved seedsand women’s land tenure rights.

12-18, SADC Summit of Heads of State and GovernmentMozambique SADC leaders meet to discuss issues aimed at promot-

ing regional integration and development. The summitis preceded by meetings of senior officials and Councilof Ministers.

13-24, Southern African Region Climate Outlook ForumZimbabwe Scientists from the national meteorological services in

SADC member states meet to review the regional cli-mate outlook The SARCOF conference 13-21 Augustis followed by an annual forecasting process 22-14 Au-gust when the experts use indicators of seasonal rain-fall to produce a regional forecast for the 2012-2013rainfall season.

26-31, Sweden World Water Week World Water Week has been the annual focal point forglobal water issues since 1991. Commemorated inStockholm, Sweden, each year World Water Week ad-dresses a particular theme to enable a deeper exami-nation of a specific water-related topic. This year’stheme is “Water and Food Security”.

September4-5, South Africa Solar Energy Africa

The conference will provide information on the finan-cial mechanisms necessary for solar energy to offer anextensive solution to current energy shortages in Africaand the infrastructure developments needed to supportan effective supply chain between independentproviders and the grid. It will also showcase the latestsolar energy technologies available.

10-14, Tanzania African Ministerial Conference on the Environment14th Regular Session (AMCEN-14) will provide a plat-form for environment ministers from African countriesto debate the key results of the UN Conference on Sus-tainable Development (Rio+20), and address otheremerging issues related to sustainable developmentand the environment in Africa.

12-14, Meeting of the Committee of Central Bank OfficialsSouth Africa The Committee of Central Bank Officials and the Com-

mittee of Central Bank Governors is a SADC regionalstructure that deals with the development of financialinstitutions and markets, co-operation regarding inter-national and regional financial relations, and mone-tary, investment and foreign exchange policies.

October8-12 Ethiopia 5th AU Ministerial Conference on Drug Control

The conference will review and strengthen mecha-nisms for shared responsibility for illicit drugs in Africaand discuss the proposed revised African Union Planof Action on Drug Control (2013-2018). The ministerswill also discuss an African Common Position on Con-trolled Substances and Pain Management.

SOUTHERN AFRICA Today 15

E V E N T S

SADC TODAY Vol 14 No 5 August 2012

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EDITORMunetsi Madakufamba

EDITORIAL COMMITTEEJoseph Ngwawi, Kizito Sikuka, Egline Tauya, Admire Ndhlovu,

Stalin Tazvitya, Phyllis Johnson, Patience Ziramba, Ndiyavhonga Ndou, Tanyaradzwa Chiwara, Danai Majaha, Nobuhle Sithole.

EDITORIAL ADVISORHead of Corporate Communications Unit, SADC

Leefa Penehupifo Martin

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www.sardc.net <http://www.sardc.net>Knowledge for Development

A shared future within a regional community

1 August Parents Day DRC6 August Farmers Day Zambia 8 August Nane Nane Peasant Day Tanzania9 August National Women’s Day South Africa 13 August Heroes Day Zimbabwe14 August Defence Forces Day Zimbabwe 15 August Assumption Day Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles 17 August SADC Day* All19 August Eid Ul Fitr** Malawi, Mauritius, Tanzania20 August Public Holiday Malawi, Tanzania26 August Heroes Day Namibia 27 August Public Holiday Namibia

* SADC Day is not a public holiday but a commemoration of signing the SADC Treaty on 17 August 1992

**Exact date depends on sighting of the new moon

3 September Umhlanga Reed Dance Swaziland6 September Somhlolo Independence Day Swaziland7 September Lusaka Peace Agreement Day Mozambique17 September National Heroes Day Angola20 September Ganesh Chaturthi Mauritius 24 September Heritage Day South Africa25 September Armed Forces Day Mozambique30 September Botswana Day Botswana

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS IN SADCAugust-September 2012

Five countries celebrate their heroes andheritage in this period.

13-14 August. Zimbabwe com-memorates National Heroes Day

and Armed Forces Day to honour thosewho fought the war of national liberation, and

those killed by Rhodesian atrocities such as FreedomCamp in Zambia and Nyadzonia in Mozambique where thou-

sands of unarmed civilians lost their lives.

26 August. Namibia marks Heroes Day (Namibia Day)when thousands of Namibians gather at different venues

each year to remember their heroes on the date of the official launchof the long and bitter struggle for independence when the first bulletwas fired in 1966 at Omugulu-Gwombashe in the Omusati region.

Three days in Mozambique. 7 September, 25 September,4 October. Mozambique commemorates three important

dates, starting 7 September, when the historic agreement was signedwith Portugal in 1974 in Lusaka, bringing a ceasefire and transitionto independence. Armed Forces Day on 25 September marks thestart of the liberation war when the first shots were fired at in thenorthern Cabo Delgado province in 1964. Peace and ReconciliationDay marks the peace agreement signed in Rome in 1992 following16 years of conflict and two years of arduous negotiations led byArmando Emilio Guebuza, now President of Mozambique andforthcoming Chairperson of SADC.

17 September. Angola remembers Agostinho Neto, thefounding President and symbol of Angolan nationalism,

born on this date in 1922 and died in 1979 at the age of 56 after lead-ing the liberation war that brought independence from Portugal in1975.

24 September. South Africa celebrates its cultural heritageeach year on this date to encourage all South Africans to

celebrate the diversity of their beliefs and traditions. The theme forHeritage Month 2011 was “Celebrating the Heroes and Heroines ofthe Liberation Struggle in South Africa”, to reconnect the nationwith its rich and diverse collective liberation heritage.

Roots of the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community

Heroes & HeritageH I S T O R Y T O D A Y

THE TREATY of the SouthernAfrican Development Commu-nity (SADC) was signed byHeads of State and Govern-ment in Windhoek, Namibia,on 17 August 1992, soon afterNamibia’s independence, re-placing the Southern AfricanDevelopment CoordinationConference (SADCC) estab-lished in April 1980 in Lusaka,Zambia. This was based on the con-clusion by Heads of State andGovernment that political inde-pendence was almost completein the region, and their declara-tion, “Southern Africa—To-wards Economic Liberation”. They pledged in the newTreaty to “strengthen and con-solidate the longstanding his-torical, social and culturalaffinities and links among thepeople of the region.” The Treaty states the SADCprinciples as:• sovereign equality of allMember States;• solidarity, peace and secu-rity;• human rights, democracyand the rule of law;• equity, balance and mutualbenefit; and,• peaceful settlement of dis-putes.

SADC Common AgendaThe objectives of SADC are topromote sustainable and equi-table economic growth andsocio-economic development,

enhance the standard and qual-ity of life of the people ofSouthern Africa and supportthe socially disadvantagedthrough regional integration;promote common political val-ues, systems and other sharedvalues through institutions thatare democratic, legitimate andeffective; and, consolidate, de-fend and maintain democracy,peace, security and stability. Other objectives are to pro-mote self-sustaining develop-ment on the basis of collectiveself-reliance and the interde-pendence of Member States;align national and regionalstrategies and programmes;maximise productive employ-ment; achieve sustainable utili-sation of natural resources andeffective protection of the envi-ronment; combat HIV andAIDS and other communicablediseases; address poverty erad-ication; and mainstream genderin the process of communitybuilding. The Treaty presents severalinitiatives intended to achievethese objectives, including har-monisation of political andsocio-economic policies andplans; and encouraging thepeople of the region and theirinstitutions to take their owninitiatives to develop economic,social and cultural ties acrossthe region, and to participatefully in the implementation ofthe programmes and projects ofSADC. r

20 Years

1992 - 2012