SADC Senior Officials meet ahead of Council of Ministers meeting

The Standing Committee of Senior Officials of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) kicked off their meeting on 13 March, 2023, ahead of the meeting of the Council of Ministers scheduled to be held on 18-20 March, 2023 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Ambassador Songhu Kayumba Donatien, Secretary General for the Ministry of Regional Integration and Francophonie of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chairperson of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials called on the delegates to thoroughly deliberate the issues with a common goal of promoting regional integration and development.
Ambassador Donatien highlighted that the DRC, as the current Chair of SADC, continues to promote and champion the SADC industrialisation agenda as a way of ensuring that SADC improves the livelihoods of the citizens of the region, and continues to be a competitive and effective player in international relations and the world economy.
The Council of Ministers meeting will be held under the 42nd SADC Summit Theme, which is; “Promoting industrialization through agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, and regional value chains for inclusive and resilient economic growth”. The theme takes into account the urgent need to enhance the roll out of SADC industrialization and market integration programmes as contained in the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030.