Africa-Press – Angola. Deputy Esteves Hilário considered, this Monday, that Angola should consolidate its leading role in the SADC region, during the rotating presidency in the regional organization, and capture significant gains in the diversification of its exports.
The country will receive the testimony to lead the fate of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), until August 2024, during the Summit of Heads of State and Government, which will take place in the Angolan capital, replacing the Republic Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The deputy emphasized that, similarly to the advances seen in Angola’s presidency of the CPLP, in terms of mobility, the country could also influence the movement of people and goods and the reciprocal protection of investments within the SADC space.
According to the MPLA deputy, it is necessary for national products to be exported to the SADC region and, at the same time, to introduce other goods from countries in the region to the national market, in order to strengthen trade.
He exemplified the fact that a lot of meat is imported from Latin America, “when we have neighboring Botswana here, which is a great producer of beef”.
For him, such an assumption would bring significant gains, such as letting currencies circulate within the region and generating prosperity and wealth for their respective peoples.
SADC one of the most stable regions of the continent
The university professor also
pointed out that SADC’s challenges are essentially economic and mobility, because from the political-military point of view, with the exception of what happens in the East of the DRC, SADC is one of the most stable regions of the African continent.
He defended, by the way, greater promotion of investments, such as the creation of a regional bank to finance the region, especially the development of infrastructures.
He said it was necessary to create instruments to achieve sustainable and balanced development in all countries in the region and to avoid asymmetries between countries in the South and North.
Esteves Hilário understands that the quality of life of SADC citizens should be on a par with those living in South Africa, Botswana, Angola or Congo, for example.
He noted that political leaders must mobilize legal instruments so that the business community of each of the SADC countries can move freely and generate jobs and prosperity for their people.
On the other hand, deputy Alcides Sakala, from UNITA, highlighted the role of SADC in building regional peace, collective security and promoting the development of States.
He noted that the sustainability of regional peace is one of the great gains of SADC, compared to other African regions with regional integration organizations but which have not been able to build a solid peace, which inhibits development.
Deputy Alcides Sakala, who heads the Commission for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Angolan Communities Abroad of the National Assembly, recognized that the SADC region is one of the most stable on the continent, “which is important for Angola, which is part of this permanent process of building integration”.
For him, SADC has taken significant steps towards building this space of integration, highlighting the fact that the creation of a regional parliament is envisaged, within the framework of parliamentary diplomacy.
He hopes that during his rotating presidency at SADC Angola he will strengthen his experiences for the consolidation of regional integration.
“There is little talk about SADC in our country, it is necessary for Angolans to better understand the scope of this regional bloc and its impact at the country level, therefore it is necessary to publicize more what SADC does and the media has a great role to play in this process”, he stressed.
Headquartered in Gaborone (Botswana), one of SADC’s major objectives is to make the region industrialized by 2063, as set out in the organization’s Strategy and Roadmap, approved by the Heads of State and Government, in April 2015, for the period 2015-2063.
Created in August 1992, SADC is made up of Angola, South Africa Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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