Luanda - The member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) expressed satisfaction, Friday, with the financial situation of the organisation, according to Angola's Foreign Minister, Téte António.
The head of Angolan diplomacy, who was speaking on the sidelines of a video conference that assessed the bloc's financial situation and shared information about the Covid-19 pandemic in the region, did not provide details about the bloc's financial situation.
He added that during the ministerial meeting that addressed other issues on the life of the organisation and foreign policy, the situation of the Free Trade Area was also addressed, and member states were encouraged to join the instrument.
Likewise, the delegations discussed issues relating to the election of the future Executive Secretary of SADC, a post for which two countries are running, namely the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Botswana.
He referred that the main situation in the region, at this moment, is the fight for the vaccination of the population against Covid-19 and the creation of technical laboratory conditions for that effect.
On the other hand, the Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, said that during the meeting an appeal was made to the member states for a bigger cooperation between the institutions responsible for Covid-19 testing, aiming at a bigger and better articulation in the region.
The meeting also discussed reinforcing epidemiological surveillance in border areas, in order to prevent an increase in cases of the new variants.
The Angolan delegation was made up of representatives of the ministries of Finance, Economy and Planning, Industry, Trade and Health.
SADC is made up of 16 countries, namely Angola, South Africa, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini (Former Swaziland), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
