Republic of Zimbabwe takes over the Chairship of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials

Nokusa Masuku

09.08.24

Yesterday the Republic of Zimbabwe took over the Chairship of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Standing Committee of Senior Officials from the Republic of Angola.

This marks the beginning of the process for the official handover of the SADC Chairship from the Republic of Angola to the Republic of Zimbabwe during the 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government on 17 August, 2024.

In his acceptance speech during the opening ceremony of the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials, the Chairperson of the Standing Committee of Senior Officials, Ambassador Albert Ranganai Chimbindi, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade highlighted the need to intensify trade facilitation measures to boost intra-regional trade and investment in the SADC region by taking full advantage of the opportunities presented by instruments such as the SADC Protocol on Trade, the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

This is with the view to promote industrialisation and enhance competitiveness, thereby creating decent work and alleviating poverty for SADC citizens.

The SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials is a technical advisory committee to the Council of Ministers. The Committee consists of Permanent/Principal Secretaries or officials of equivalent rank from each Member State, mostly from the Ministries responsible for Foreign Affairs, Economic Planning or Finance.