Author: BERNARD LUGONGO
AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Southern African Development Community (SADC) has called upon member states to have effective policy measures to spur quick recovery of the regional economy and minimise the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19.
The community’s Secretariat further appealed to member countries to have policy measures that will keep regional supply chains safe and stable as well as maintain regional financial stability.
The regional secretariat noted that the effects of Covid-19 on the SADC regional economy require a harmonised and collective response.
“It is imperative that we remain vigilant and proactive, and with an open mind, discuss and come up with well-coordinated and robust solutions to circumvent the threats on SADC economies,” SADC Secretariat Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Tax stated.
Dr Tax made the statement during an opening session of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Finance and Investment and the SADC peer review panel virtual meeting held yesterday.
Tanzania’s Minister for Finance and Planning Dr Philip Mpango was supposed to chair the meeting, but he was represented by Minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office (Union and Environment), Mr Mussa Zungu.
Among other agenda, the ministers looked at a report on the impact of Covid-19 on SADC member states’ performance against the macroeconomic convergence targets.
The meetings also received progress on the implementation of financial mechanisms, including the SADC Regional Development Fund, Project Preparation and Development Facility, which are critical for the prosperity of the region. The financial mechanisms are also crucial for sustainability and preparedness of the region in dealing with pandemics and disasters.
When officially opening the meeting, Mr Zungu noted that the coronavirus does not befall the health sector alone but rather it also affects the economy as a whole due to disruption of the demand and supply chain.
He said growing restrictions on the movement of people and lockdowns in some parts of the world including some SADC member states, have been hitting the service sector hard, particularly industries that involve physical interactions such as retail trade, leisure, hospitality, recreation and transportation services.
During the meeting of SADC Council of Ministers held in March 2020, the Chairperson of the regional bloc President John Magufuli directed the Council to meet regularly, to explore various modalities of containing spread of Covid-19, while ensuring business continuity and resumption of cross borders activities.
In light with that, the region approved the SADC Guideline on Harmonisation and Facilitation of Cross Border Transport Operations across the region and Regional Standard Operating Procedures for Management and Monitoring of Cross Border Road Transport at designated points of entry and Covid-19 checkpoints.
