Dear Fellow South African,

This week, South Africa has the honour, as the incoming chair, of hosting the 46th Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in eThekwini.

As it starts its SADC chairship, South Africa’s focus is on the practical steps needed to further integrate the economies of SADC and build a dynamic regional market.

This is becoming increasingly important in the context of growing turbulence in the global economy. Conflicts in faraway places are causing great disruption to trade, raising the prices of fuel, grain and fertiliser, and reducing the prospects for growth.

It is precisely at such a moment that we should be clear about what SADC means for South Africans. Our membership of SADC is not just a matter of foreign policy. It is about the creation of jobs and improving the quality of life of South Africans. It is about the growth of our industries, the development of our infrastructure and the health and well-being of our people.

As a community of 16 countries with a combined population of nearly 400 million people, SADC has abundant natural resources, a youthful population and the means to produce everything that its people need.

Yet, trade among SADC countries only stands at around 20% of our combined total trade. Collectively, Southern Africa has abundant energy resources, minerals and land. We have skills, technology, industrial capabilities and strong financial institutions. Yet, we still import much of the goods and services we need from beyond our shores. 

For example, our region holds much of the world’s critical minerals, yet we export the ore and import the battery. We are supplying an industrial revolution taking place elsewhere and buying back its products at a price set by others.

That is why we need a dynamic common market in which we trade with each other. No country in this region can, on its own, build an integrated power system, develop cross-border corridors, manage shared water resources or withstand the full force of climate change.

We need to link our economies through corridors of goods, services and industry. We are developing the Maputo, North-South, Trans-Kalahari, Beira and Lobito corridors, but we need to do more so that they become living arteries of commerce, carrying freight, electricity, data and people. 

We have the Southern African Power Pool, which means that electricity generated in one country powers businesses and lights homes in another. Our task now is to widen that pool to ensure that all parts of Southern Africa have a reliable supply of affordable energy. 

We must similarly develop our shared water resources so that every country has the water it needs to supply its industries and its people in a sustainable manner.

We need to remove the costs that we have imposed on ourselves, from reducing the price of phone calls and money transfers to reducing waiting times at our borders and harmonising customs procedures. 

Our ambition must not be limited to more trade with each other. We must produce goods and services together. We must assemble cars in one SADC country from parts manufactured in another, using materials produced in a third. 

While we need to invest in infrastructure and industry, our region’s most precious asset is our people. More than half of SADC’s population is under the age of 30. To realise this demographic dividend, we must ensure that every young person is given the best foundation for success in life. 

As a region, we should work together to ensure that every child has sufficient food and water, that they have quality health care and can access early childhood development. To realise their potential, we need to invest in our schools, universities, technical and vocational colleges and research institutions. 

These are some of the actions that this Summit will consider as we work to achieve SADC’s Vision 2050 for an integrated, productive and prosperous region. 

As South Africa takes up the chairship of SADC, we do so in the knowledge that our own prosperity is bound up with that of our neighbours. It is now up to all of us to turn this aspiration into a reality, and to turn the enormous potential that our region has into growth, development and jobs.

With best regards,