Yasmin Bilal
Regional leaders have pledged to strengthen economic cooperation across Southern Africa as the SADC Finance and Investment Meetings in Harare, Zimbabwe, focused on boosting growth and shielding member states from global economic uncertainty.
Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube, SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi and South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, who also chairs the SADC Committee of Ministers of Finance and Investment, outlined measures aimed at protecting the region from ongoing global economic uncertainty.
Ncube said regional cooperation remained the foundation for resilience and shared prosperity. He called for stronger macroeconomic convergence, deeper financial integration, the operationalisation of the SADC Regional Development Fund and the implementation of regional commitments.
Magosi said the region had demonstrated resilience despite global economic uncertainty. He pointed to improvements in regional payments, investment and economic growth.
He called for greater industrialisation, policy coherence, energy security, agricultural modernisation, trade facilitation and stronger regional value chains. He said these measures were needed to drive sustainable development across the region.
Addressing the meeting, Godongwana said the changing global economic landscape required SADC member states to adopt coordinated and forward-looking economic policies.
“Importantly, this will require leveraging critical minerals to drive industrialisation, promoting food security through cooperation in agricultural production and agro-processing, deepening intra-regional trade integration, and strengthening resilient infrastructure and supply chains,” he said.
Godongwana said achieving those objectives would require sustained political leadership, stronger institutional coordination and a shift from commitments to implementation.
“In this regard, we will need to prioritise a select set of high-impact actions. Amongst these, for example, are the trade facilitation reforms, development of transport and logistics corridors, seamless transmission of digital payments, including reducing the cost of remittances across the region,” he said.
He also warned that changes in the global development finance landscape posed a significant risk to SADC countries. He said international aid to Sub-Saharan Africa continues to decline.
“This shifting landscape calls for a structural transformation in development finance across the SADC region.
“Beyond protecting critical social sectors, there is an urgent need to pivot toward more sustainable and diversified financing models. This includes leveraging blended finance, public-private partnerships (PPPs), and deeper private sector participation to offset declining donor flows,” he said.
Citing International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates, Godongwana said bilateral aid could contract by between 16% and 28% from 2025.
“These cuts are donor-driven and broad-based in scope and not a reflection of individual country performance. Unlike previous downturns, the current reductions are large and highly unpredictable.
“They represent a systemic and potentially lasting shock rather than a temporary disruption. The poorest and most fragile countries will be disproportionately affected,” he said.
The leaders said stronger collaboration among member states, harmonised policies, effective institutions and the implementation of agreed programmes would be critical to achieving sustainable economic growth and improving the lives of people across the SADC region.
The meeting also reaffirmed SADC’s commitment to building a resilient, integrated and prosperous region through collective leadership, sound economic governance and increased investment.
Leaders said this would be supported by implementing priorities under the SADC Vision 2050 and the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020 to 2030.