The Pan Afrikanist Watchman

The United States Government signed a US$223 million (P3 billion) five-year regional development objective agreement with the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

An initial tranche of over $35 million has been made available for the years 2023-2024. The transformative partnership between SADC and US will improve the quality of life for the people of Southern Africa since it is targeted at key areas of health, the youth and energy and others between now and 2027.

The cooperation agreement endeavours to deliver citizen-centred governance and enterprise-driven development through United States Agency for International Development (USAID) partners to achieve sustained and inclusive growth, peace, and stability throughout the region.

Speaking at the signing ceremony Thursday August 3, 2023 at the SADC Secretariat in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi expressed profound gratitude to the U.S. government for the continued commitment in supporting the implementation of the SADC regional integration agenda in line with the regional aspirations espoused in the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (2020-2030) and the SADC Vision 2050.

“The Agreement signed today provides an excellent opportunity to support the financing of regional programmes and thereby contributing to the common objective of facilitating socio-economic development aimed at reducing poverty and improving the livelihood of our people,” Magosi said.

He added, “Together, SADC and the U.S. government can make a meaningful impact on the lives of SADC citizens and, by extension, give a good level of fulfilment to U.S. citizens who have been gracious enough to share their resources with the SADC region.”

And for his part, the U.S. Ambassador to Botswana and U.S. Representative to SADC, Howard Van Vranken said that the U.S. government is committed to the principle that SADC and SADC member states must lead their own development journey.

“The U.S. government will work to foster a relationship that strengthens equal partnership for the benefit of all,” Van Vranken said.

The agreement outlines coordination between SADC and the U.S. government, as well as a commitment to work with local non-governmental actors, other donors, regional organisations, and the private sector.

It also outlines activities focused on sustainability, gender equality, and women’s empowerment. In-fact on this score, Van Vranken revealed that USAID is accelerating its funding commitment by putting women and girls “at the centre of our global development and humanitarian work”.

He said that women’s economic empowerment benefits entire communities and countries.

“As you know, women are one-half of the world’s population but only contribute to 37 percent of the global GDP. We cannot achieve economic development with these troubling statistics”, the U.S. envoy continued.

Speaking to The Pan Afrikanist in an interview after the signing ceremony, SADC Legal Counsel Mphatso Kachule described the partnership as a “good one” for the region as it will allow some of the projects that did not have resources to “tap into it”.

Among the immediate areas of focus, Kachule mentioned health, democracy and good governance, which he said once in place could help the region to develop and attract investment.