Africa-Press – Angola. The governments of the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are engaged in the operationalization of the regional fund for financing infrastructure and promoting the industrialization of the region, with the aim of accelerating African integration.
This statement was made official on Thursday (12), in Luanda, by the head of the SADC Department for Finance, Investment and Customs, Mário Lironel, during the forum of the executive presidents of Development Finance Institutions (DFI), which is taking place from the 9th to the 13th of the current month in Luanda.
According to the official, the process is being conducted by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
To this end, the ministers of Finance and Investment recently met to pressure member states to sign and ratify the SADC agreement for the operationalization of the fund.
In this regard, Mário Lironel emphasized that Angola was one of the first countries to sign the document on the fund, along with 10 other states out of 16.
“It is important that Member States ratify and sign the SADC regional fund agreement, because it will facilitate the attraction of investments, because when this fund gets operational, Asia, Africa, Europe and even America will finance development through this mechanism”, he added.
He mentioned that the next AfDB meeting should approve strategies to mobilize resources and subsequently implement them, based on guidelines from the last meeting of Finance and Investment Ministers, including the SADC Council of Ministers.
According to the head of the SADC Finance Department, the fund should start with around USD 3 billion, in a contribution from Member States, with support from regional financial institutions.
Mário Lironel highlighted the importance of this event in Luanda, as it allows for the discussion of issues linked to the DFRC (Development Finance Resource Centre) Academy, which will primarily support regional financial institutions in capacity building in finance and governance, infrastructure and project financing.
In turn, the DFRC executive director, Zwelibanzi Sapula, said that African governments need to harmonize policies and finance logistics corridors.
In statements to the press, he highlighted the search for development finance solutions to boost the regional economy and promote a prosperous and regionally connected region.
He advocated for greater support from governments for development finance institutions, in order to mobilize more resources, research and consulting services that enable economic development, promoting regional integration and a prosperous and regionally linked economy within SADC.
