Southern Africa Development Community

Southern Africa Development ; Community SADC
	; Organization logo
	; Flag of the SADC
	; Member States
English name	Southern African Development Community
Organization type	Regional cooperation
Seat of the organs	Gaborone , Botswana
Chair	Filipe Nyusi (since August 17, 2020)
Secretary General	Stergomena Tax (since 2013)
Member States	Angola ; Botswana ; Comoros ; Congo, DR ; Lesotho ; Madagascar ; Malawi ; Mauritius ; Mozambique ; Namibia ; Zambia ; Seychelles ; Zimbabwe ; South Africa ; Swaziland ; Tanzania ;
Official and working languages	English , French , Portuguese , Swahili
surface	9,865,588 (2017) km²
population	300 million ; (2014 estimate)
Population density	30.5 (2014 estimate) inhabitants per km²
gross domestic product	648 billion ; (2014 estimate)
Gross domestic product per inhabitant	US $ 2,200 ; (2014 estimate)
founding	July 1979
Currencies	Ariary; Comoros Franc; Congo Franc; Zambian kwacha; Kwanza; Lilangeni; Loti; Malawi Kwacha; Mauritian rupee; Metical; Namibian dollars; Pula; edge; Seychelles rupee; Zimbabwe dollars; Tanzanian Shilling;
Time zone	UTC + 1 to UTC + 4
Subsidiary organizations	SADC Court of Justice (in Windhoek );
	www.sadc.int

The development community of southern Africa ( English Southern African Development Community , SADC ; French Communauté de développement d'Afrique australe , Portuguese Comunidade para o Desenvolvimento da África Austral ) is a regional organization for economic and political integration in southern Africa . It is based in Gaborone in Botswana .

history

The forerunner organization " Development Conference of Southern Africa " (SADCC) was founded in April 1980. The foundation goes back to a first joint summit in July 1979 in Arusha ( Tanzania ). In 1992 the organization was given its current name in Windhoek ( Namibia ).

The re-establishment of 1992 is a regional integration project of the states in southern Africa. Initially, the organization was planned as a counterweight to the frontline states to the economic supremacy of South Africa in apartheid times. At the 2001 special summit in Windhoek, a comprehensive structural reform was decided, whereby in addition to the radical departure from the decentralized structure, the resolution of the 21 cooperation areas was decided, which from then on were combined in four directorates under the secretariat.

In 1996 the SADC trade protocol was signed, which came into force four years later. The protocol aims to create a free trade zone , with all participating states committed to abolishing more than 85 percent by 2008 and all external tariffs by 2012. Special regulations apply to sensitive goods, for which the elimination of customs duties could endanger the national economic sectors. The principle of asymmetrical trade liberalization applies throughout the process , with South Africa granting unilateral trade preferences. In 2003, a further step towards deeper integration was taken with the adoption of a regional strategic development plan (RISDP). The main objective is the deepening of regional integration, whereby the plan is geared towards the next 15 years and includes an extensive program of economic and social aspects, which aims at closer integration with the focus on poverty reduction in the region.

In addition, SADC is involved in the field of security cooperation. In 1996 a joint body was created to promote regional security and defense cooperation and serve as an institution for conflict management. After initial dysfunction, the body was reformed in 2001 and a first Regional Strategic Development Plan (SIPO) was adopted for the body in 2004 to improve its functioning and promote integration in this policy area. In addition to regular, joint military maneuvers, the creation of the joint SADC brigade in 2007 represents a first step in this direction. However, it has not yet been used operationally, so that there is still uncertainty about the actual operational readiness.

To improve cooperation in the energy sector, SADC member states founded the Regional Electricity Regulators Association of Southern Africa in Maseru in 2002 , an amalgamation of their national energy regulators.

The first step towards deeper integration within the framework of the RISDP is the free trade area of the SADC, established in January 2008 by 12 of the then 15 member states. The Seychelles joined later, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have not yet joined the free trade area.

According to the RISPD, a SADC customs union should be created by 2010, a common market by 2015 and an economic union by 2016. The introduction of a common currency was planned by 2018. So far, none of these goals have been achieved.

The European Union and the USA work closely with SADC. While the European Union is striving to conclude so-called partnership agreements with all participating states, negotiations between the USA and SADC and the Southern African Customs Union have not been successful. There are indications that the European Union, as an external actor, has disrupted the process of regional market integration in SADC with a view to the planned SADC customs union, as the partnership agreements that have been promised have caused disagreement among the SADC member states. This is not least due to the fact that the agreements also include reciprocal trade liberalization. Since the European Union cannot and does not want to offer the same conditions to all SADC states in this regard, the SADC member states have come together in four groups that negotiate different partnership agreements with the European Union and, in some cases, are already implementing them. Against the background of these different foreign trade regimes between the four groups of SADC countries and the European Union, it will hardly be possible for the SADC to implement a uniform regional external tariff, which is absolutely necessary for the creation of a SADC customs union.

On August 16 and 17, 2010, SADC celebrated its 30th anniversary at its summit conference in Windhoek.

Anniversary logo of the SADC

Key figures and goals

In the development community, 16 states with a total of around 300 million inhabitants are united on just under 10 million square kilometers . Some data from 2013 are listed below:

Member State	GDP per capita in US dollars (2018)	Government debt ratio	Labor losen- quote	Corruption index	Freedom of the press (rank) (2020)	Human Development Index (2018)
Angola Angola	3621	65	6.6	19th	106	0.581
Botswana Botswana	7973	16	20.0 (2013)	61	39	0.717
Comoros Comoros ¹	1391	28	6.5 (2013)	27	75	0.503
Congo Democratic Republic Congo DR	496	16		20th	150	0.457
Lesotho Lesotho	1333	35	28.1 (2014)	41	86	0.520
Madagascar Madagascar ²	459	37	2.1	25th	54	0.519
Malawi Malawi	350		20.4	32	69	0.477
Mauritius Mauritius	11,228	60	6.9	56	56	0.790
Mozambique Mozambique	475	102	24.5 (2017)	23	104	0.437
Namibia Namibia	6012	46	34 (2016)	53	23	0.647
Zambia Zambia	1503	62		35	120	0.588
Seychelles Seychelles ³	16,575	63	4.1 (2017)	66	85	0.797
Zimbabwe Zimbabwe	1434	78	95	22nd	126	0.535
South Africa South Africa	6354	53	27.6	53	31	0.699
Swaziland Swaziland	4267	29		38	141	0.588
Tanzania Tanzania	1040	38	10.3	36	124	0.538

¹ Admitted to SADC in August 2017.
² Membership was suspended due to the coup in 2009 until democracy was restored in 2014.
³ At my own request, no member between 2004 and August 15, 2007.

The official and working languages of SADC are French , Portuguese and Swahili . The most important goals of SADC include:

to coordinate the social and economic policies of its members.
to improve economic, social and cultural relations in the region.
the removal of barriers to the free movement of capital and labor, goods and services .
promoting the formation of human capital .
promoting the exchange of technology and knowledge in the region.

Structure of the organization

Administration building in Gaborone

Summit of Heads of State and Government (Summit)

The highest decision-making body is the annual summit conference of the heads of state and government. The chair is a so-called troika, consisting of the chair, the future chair and the predecessor. The summit conference determines the political course of the organization and can decide on changes or additions to the organizational structure. Furthermore, the summit decides on the admission of further member states, whereby decisions here are generally made unanimously and are permanently binding for the individual states.

Council of Ministers

This is where the political decisions for the summit conference are prepared. The Council of Ministers is also responsible for the implementation of the SADC programs and the selection and allocation of the cooperation sectors. In addition, the Council of Ministers is supported in an advisory capacity by the standing committee.

General Secretariat

Since the structural reform of 2001, the secretariat has had the duty to actively and independently promote the integration process. In addition, under the new treaty of 2001, the Secretariat is also responsible for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of and compliance with regional principles and programs. The general secretary is elected every five years.

In addition, the four newly created directorates have been bundled within the General Secretariat. These are the following directorates:

Directorate for Commerce, Industry, Finance and Investment
Directorate for Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources
Directorate for Infrastructure and Services
Directorate for Social and Human Development and Special Programs

Organ for Politics, Defense and Security (OPDS)

The OPDS is the security and defense policy body of the SADC and was founded in 1996. Shortly after the body was founded, disputes arose regarding the body's legal position within SADC. Those inconsistencies ultimately led to the ineffectiveness and suspension of the OPDS until 2001.

As part of the restructuring in 2001, the Protocol on Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation was passed , which from now on regulates the rights and obligations of the OPDS. The protocol is aimed in particular at peaceful coexistence between the SADC states and political stability in the individual member states.

Integrated Committee of Ministers

The Integrated Committee of Ministers was also established as part of the structural reforms of 2001. It consists of two ministers from each member country and is essentially supposed to oversee the work of the four directorates.

National SADC Committees

These coordinate the implementation of the SADC programs at national level.

SADC Court of Justice

SADC Tribunal in Windhoek in the historic " gym "

The tribunal was set up in 2005. Its seat is in Windhoek . The purpose is to settle international conflicts and disputes of the member states on the basis of the Declaration & Treaty of SADC (1992).

SADC statistics office

The statistical office of the SADC ( SADC Statistics Group ) is an area within its Policy Planning and Resource Mobilization Directorate . This department compiles periodically published statistical materials with the help of data from the member states. It is the SADC Statistical Yearbook , which appeared between 2011 and 2014, a statistical summary of selected factors ( SADC Selected Indicators ) and a monthly short message on the economic key figure price index ( SADC Monthly Harmonized Consumer Price Index Newsletter ).

Balance sheet and awards

Between 1998 and 2000 there was hardly any progress in the integration process of SADC. The conflict in the SADC member state DR Congo and the associated split of the SADC into two camps, the rivalries between the old declining leading power of the Zimbabwe region and the new rising leading power South Africa, the unequal economic relationship between the members, but also the structural deficiencies in of the organization, which rather prevented progress, can be used as the cause for this. Due to the more recent developments, especially the adoption of numerous protocols and the introduction of the free trade zone at the end of 2008, the integration process of SADC was able to gain momentum again. It can also be observed that the SADC is unable to adequately deal with the Zimbabwean crisis. Although there have already been several crisis summits, Mugabe's controversial government remained without consequences until his resignation. The deliberate disregard of the judgments of the community tribunal against the land reform discriminating against the white minority has so far remained without consequences.

The SADC awards the "Sir Seretse Khama SADC Medal" at irregular intervals. It is the highest transnational award in southern Africa and is named after the first Botswana president Seretse Khama .

literature

Martin Adelmann: Regional Cooperation in Southern Africa. Freiburg im Breisgau 2003.
Johannes Muntschick: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU): Regionalism and External Influence . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham 2017. ISBN 978-3-319-45330-9
Volker Ressler: The Perspectives of Regional Integration in Southern Africa. Frankfurt am Main 2007.
Jörgen Vogt: The regional integration of southern Africa. Baden-Baden 2007.
Heribert Dieter , Henning Melber : No Future for SADC? Perspectives for Regional Integration in Southern Africa after the Mauritius Summit . In: INEF Report No. 43 . Duisburg 2000 ( uni-due.de [PDF; 88 kB ]).
Christian von Soest, Julia Scheller: Regional Integration in Southern Africa: Where is SADC Heading? (PDF; 546 kB) . GIGA Focus Africa 10/2006, Institute for African Studies, GIGA, Hamburg.

Web links

Individual references, comments

^ SADC adopts Kiswahili as 4th working language. ec.europa.eu (English), accessed on January 9, 2020
^ Muntschick, Johannes: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU): Regionalism and External Influence . Cham, Switzerland 2018, ISBN 978-3-319-45330-9 , pp. 187-228 .
^ Union of International Associations: Regional Electricity Regulators Association of Southern Africa (RERA) . on www.uia.org (English)
↑ ^a ^b SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) sadc.int (English), accessed on April 8, 2018
^ Muntschick, Johannes: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU): Regionalism and External Influence . Cham, Switzerland 2018, ISBN 978-3-319-45330-9 , pp. 153-186 .
^ Final spurt for planning the SADC summit, Allgemeine Zeitung, July 30, 2010
↑ List of countries according to gross domestic product per capita, 2018
↑ List of countries by national debt ratio, 2017
^ CIA World Fact Book, 2017
↑ Transparency Innational - Corruption, 2018
↑ Ranking list of press freedom 2020 , on Reporters Without Borders . Retrieved May 30, 2020.
↑ Latest Human Development Index (HDI) Ranking. UNDP. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
↑ Contract text (PDF)
^ SADC: SADC Statistics . on www.sadc.int (English)

[1] SADC adopts Kiswahili as 4th working language. ec.europa.eu (English), accessed on January 9, 2020

[2] Muntschick, Johannes: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU): Regionalism and External Influence . Cham, Switzerland 2018, ISBN 978-3-319-45330-9 , pp. 187-228 .

[3] Union of International Associations: Regional Electricity Regulators Association of Southern Africa (RERA) . on www.uia.org (English)

[fta-4] SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) sadc.int (English), accessed on April 8, 2018

[5] Muntschick, Johannes: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU): Regionalism and External Influence . Cham, Switzerland 2018, ISBN 978-3-319-45330-9 , pp. 153-186 .

[6] Final spurt for planning the SADC summit, Allgemeine Zeitung, July 30, 2010

[7] List of countries according to gross domestic product per capita, 2018

[8] List of countries by national debt ratio, 2017

[9] CIA World Fact Book, 2017

[10] Transparency Innational - Corruption, 2018

[11] Ranking list of press freedom 2020 , on Reporters Without Borders . Retrieved May 30, 2020.

[12] Latest Human Development Index (HDI) Ranking. UNDP. Retrieved March 29, 2019.

[13] Contract text (PDF)

[14] SADC: SADC Statistics . on www.sadc.int (English)