Luanda - The vice-president of the MPLA, Luísa Damião said Thursday in Luanda that Angola did well its homework before assuming the rotating presidency of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Luísa Damião pointed out the work done on the Lobito Corridor, which will allow the flow of production from member countries in the region to Port of Lobito, the launch of Angosat2 and other infrastructures that will have a positive influence the integration of SADC countries.
Speaking to the press, on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the 43rd Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government, the MPLA vice-president admitted that the challenges are enormous for Angola, but the important thing “is that the 16 countries can join synergies, in the sense of moving towards regional integration”.
Among other challenges, Luísa Damião pointed out the gender parity and the process of industrialization in the region.
“Angola will have great challenges, but if we unite all the efforts of the member countries, we will be able to make a solid and safe journey towards industrialization”, she stressed.
Asked about the possibility of a single currency for the region, the MPLA vice-president defended first a “well done” homework, to later evolve in this agenda, having recalled the experience, at the table, in the field of legislation, that is , from the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
The Regional Parliamentary Forum, to be transformed into a Regional Parliament, plans to produce legislative initiatives on various topics that may be of interest to the various countries in the region, such as reproductive health, good governance, gender parity, economy and finance, among others.
The Republic of Angola assumed, this Thursday, the rotating presidency of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for the period 2023/2024. João Lourenço thus presides over the regional organization, replacing Félix Tshisekedi, from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The assumption of the post, for the third time, takes place within the framework of the 43rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of SADC, which Luanda is hosting.
The Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization created in 1992 and dedicated to socio-economic cooperation and integration, as well as cooperation in political and security matters, of the countries of Southern Africa.
The main goals of SADC are to achieve economic development, peace and security, growth, reduce poverty, raise the standard and quality of life of the populations of Southern Africa, and support disadvantaged social strata through regional integration.
The organization comprises Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
NE/OHA/ADR/DOJ
