Story by John Nhandara
THE Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU) have signed eight financing agreements worth €163.9 million, aimed at enhancing cooperation in key sectors, including peace and security, climate change, trade, and investment.
The agreements were formalised during a SADC-EU partnership ministerial dialogue held at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden, reaffirming the commitment to regional development and stability.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Professor Amon Murwira, highlighted the significance of the funding in advancing SADC’s regional integration agenda.
The partnership underscores the EU’s continued support for economic growth, environmental resilience, and security cooperation within the region.
“This dialogue remains important to our regional cooperation. It provides a platform to deliberate on global, continental and regional issues. As well as major economic and political factors that affect development cooperation and programming. We are pleased today we will witness the signing of eight financing agreements supported under the MPI and SSA. These programmes will extend support from the EU amounting €163.9 million in areas of peace and security, trade in services, market access and institutional capacity building,” Professor Murwira said.
Co-Chair, representing the European Union’s Presidency, who is also Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honourable Radoslaw Sikorski said the dialogue reinforces and cements SADC-EU relations.
“This dialogue comes at a time when we need to join forces in tackling various challenges. EU will remain a reliable and credible partner. Africa is high on our agenda. We are looking forward to strengthening our dialogue. EU will continue to support inclusivity. One of the challenges is drought, induced by El-Nino, there is a hunger crisis in some countries. EU is very concerned and we are following and monitoring the situation so we can offer our support,” Honourable Sikorski said.
The SADC-EU Political Dialogue was launched at the SADC-EU Ministerial Conference in Berlin, Germany, in September 1994, wherein both parties reaffirmed their determination to reinforce their relationship and to establish a comprehensive dialogue.
