Chakwera left for Angola this morning for the 43rd Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government from where he will proceed to South Africa for the BRICS summit next week
Sadc, Angolan and Malawian senior governor officials welcomed President Dr Chakwera and First Lady Madam Monica Chakwera as they arrived in Luanda after connecting from Johannesburg in South Africa.
By default, the SADC summit attendance is because Malawi is one of the 16 member states. As for BRICS, Malawi is one of the 67 countries that have been invited as guest participants drawn from across Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean. The BRICS is a group of major emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The two summits are expected to offer Malawi an opportunity to strengthen trade and investment cooperation with other emerging and developing markets.
The SADC Summit will be held under the theme “Human and Financial Capital: The Key Drivers for Sustainable Industrialisation in the SADC Region”.
Information from the SADC secretariat says the theme seeks to address two of the most critical enablers in supporting regional industrialisation, namely adequate human resources in terms of numbers and technical capacity within the context of climate change and 4th Industrial Revolution, and adequate financial resources to ensure more sustainable funding mechanisms.
There is a great linkage between this year’s theme and Malawi’s aspirations which place human capital development as one of the key enablers of the vision Malawi2063. Under this vision, the country seeks to become a middle income economy by the year 2063.
Speaking before departure President Chakwera said the SADC summit will also consolidate peace and security, and democracy in a region that faces dotted inconveniences like the terror in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
In addition, it is expected that President Chakwera will use the two summits to outline his ATM Strategy which his administration is prioritising to expedite economic recovery and growth. ATM stands for Agriculture, Tourism and Mining.
A statement from Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the SADC summit will also provide political direction and commitment on how the region should position itself in the face of diverse and complex opportunities and threats that increasingly demand regional cooperation.
The BRICS on the other hand is convening to discuss global geopolitics, trade and infrastructure development under the theme ‘BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism’
President Chakwera also hinted that he will lobby China and India for debt repayment rescheduling on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
The President, who has been accompanied by the First Lady, will return home next week Friday.
Reported by Dickson Kashoti