Luanda - The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, announced on Sunday, in Luanda, that attention to the needs of young people is an important step towards the industrialization of the countries of the Southern African Development Communities (SADC).
The head of Angolan diplomacy, who was spoking during the opening of the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Community, recalled that 75 percent of the region's population is young.
“Our region is blessed with a large youth population, with recent estimates revealing that 75 percent of the total SADC population is made up of young people under the age of 35,” he highlighted.
This demographic, he said, often faces numerous challenges, including restricted access to education, skills development, employment opportunities and resources.
In his speech, the minister recalled the death of the president of Namibia, Hage Geingob, considering a leader who was notable for his immeasurable contribution to the regional integration and development agenda.
Geingob served SADC as President of the Council of Ministers and served as a member of the community.
Still this year, he said, SADC received news, this time about the physical passing of one of the veteran statesmen, the second president of Tanzania, Ali Hassan Mwinyi, who was at the forefront of the country's destinies in the period from 1985 to 1995.
President Mwinyi also contributed immensely to the region as acting President of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) from 1989 to 1990, before the organization was transformed into SADC.
The 1st ordinary meeting of the SADC Council of Ministers in 2024 is taking place, in the Angolan capital, under the motto “Human and Financial Capital: The Main Factors for Sustainable Industrialization in the SADC Region”.
The meeting discusses the need to develop, mobilize and harness human and financial capital to advance the organization's industrialization agenda.
The Council comprises ministers, as a rule, responsible for Foreign Affairs, International Relations, Economic Planning, Finance or Trade, from the 16 SADC Member States and meets twice a year, namely on March and August. FMA/VIC/DOJ
