The Southern African Development Community, SADC, and the African Development Bank, AfDB, have reaffirmed their commitment to deepen cooperation on regional development financing.
This follows a high-level meeting between Executive Secretary Elias Magosi and AfDB Southern Africa Director General Kennedy Mbekeani.
During the meeting held in Gaborone, both parties reviewed joint priorities surrounding regional integration, infrastructure financing and economic transformation.
The AfDB representative outlined the strategic vision of the institution under the leadership of its President, Sidi Ould Tah, reaffirming the bank’s commitment to supporting regional integration projects, infrastructure development, industrialisation, private sector engagement and innovative financial mechanisms aimed at accelerating development across the SADC region.
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For his part, Elias Magosi commended the long-standing partnership between SADC and the AfDB, highlighting in particular the Bank’s ongoing support for the operationalisation of the Regional Development Fund, RDF.
He emphasised that the RDF serves as a crucial instrument for securing sustainable financing for SADC’s regional programmes.
Both institutions also stressed the urgent need to modernise border management systems, enhance maritime connectivity, and accelerate industrialisation to drive economic growth and development across Southern Africa.
