43rd Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government |21 August 2023

Vice President Afif at the summit (Photo: Contributed)

VP Afif calls on SADC to integrate island nations’ aspirations in development strategies

Vice President Ahmed Afif led the Seychelles delegation to the 43rd ordinary summit of the Southern African Development Community heads of state and government in Luanda, Angola, which took place on August 17, 2023.

The opening ceremony of this year’s summit witnessed the transfer of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) chairmanship from the President of Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, to the President of Angola, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço.

The theme of the summit centered on ‘Human and financial capital: The key drivers for sustainable industrialisation of the SADC region’.

In his address to the summit, Vice President Afif emphasised the need for SADC, in its diversity, to encompass the specificities of the island nations of the organisation, and that their integration aspirations should feature prominently in its development strategies.

It is in the context that he called for fellow SADC member states to support the adoption of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index which is being addressed via the United Nations platform.

In regards to peace and security in the region, the summit commended progress registered on the ground in the Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique, and welcomed the gradual withdrawal of SADC forces this coming December, leading to their complete withdrawal in July 2024.

Vice President Afif expressed his solidarity with the government and people of the Democratic Republic of Congo who are yearning for peace and security in the eastern part of their country.

The summit decided on the deployment of a SADC mission to DRC (SAMIDRC).

In relation to the funding of the mission and the proposed budget, the vice president cautioned on the financial implications by member states for the deployment of SADC forces in eastern DRC which, in the view of Seychelles, is not sustainable. He called for the proposed budget to be reviewed and re-assessed downwards and stated that Seychelles will only be in a position to contribute within the country’s capacity to pay.

Accompanying Vice President Afif were Claude Morel, Ambassador based in South Africa and also the permanent representative to SADC, as well as Nisha Chengo, second secretary at the foreign affairs department who took part in the council of ministers that preceded the summit.

The SADC summit is responsible for the overall policy direction and control of functions of the community, ultimately making it the policy-making institution of SADC. The ordinary SADC summit is held every year and is attended by heads of state and government from the 16 SADC member states namely, Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is also attended by heads of continental and regional bodies as observers.

Press release from the Officer of the President