Sadc heads of state summit kicks off in Zimbabwe
Chilima and other government officials
Southern African Development Community’s heads of state summit has kicked off in Zimbabwe.
President Peter Mutharika yesterday left Malawi to take part in the 34th Southern Summit. The two-day summit ends on Monday.
Before departure at Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe, Mutharika told journalists that Malawi’s tenure as chairperson has seen the country benefiting a lot from regional trade with Sadc member States.
“This has had a positive impact on our economy in terms of generating forex,” he said.
Mutharika is scheduled to present a report on activities undertaken during its tenure and hand-over the Sadc chairmanship mantle to Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe.
Sadc has existed since 1980 when it was formed as a loose alliance of nine states in Southern Africa known as the southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC).
The transformation of the organisation into a community took place on August 17 1992 in Windhoek, Namibia. It now has about 15 member States.
The main objectives of the regional bloc are, among others, to achieve economic development, peace and security, growth, alleviate poverty, and enhance the standard and quality of life.
