Recently in Ezulwini, Swaziland

THE Southern African Development Community (SADC) has never ‘owned’ its regional programmes, activities and projects thereby compromising their sustainability.
This is so chiefly because once formulated, the projects did not reflect the core values and principles of member-states.
Rather, programmes, projects and activities came on condition and reflected the ‘principles’ of the donors.
However, programmes like the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2015-2020 and the Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063 need to be wholly owned by member-states for them to be successful.
For the past 37 years, member-states only funded 21 percent of regional projects while the balance 79 percent came from International Co-operating Partners (ICPs).
Yet the region has the world’s largest platinum deposits and diamonds as well as gold.
Against that background, over the years, calls have been made for the region to reduce dependency on donor funding and seek sustainable ways of financing its projects.
There were also concerns over the slow pace of implementing regional programmes and projects, largely due to lack of funds and over-reliance on donors.
But this is about to change.
The region is now set to implement the SADC Regional Development Fund which will see the region take full charge of its integration agenda, which used to depend on external support.
The SADC Regional Development Fund, proposed in 2013 in Malawi, is a financing mechanism intended to mobilise resources from member-states to finance regional programmes, projects and activities.
Briefing journalists after the recently held 37th SADC Extra-Ordinary summit in Ezulwini, Swaziland, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Patrick Chinamasa, said member-states now fund 54 percent of its programmes, projects and activities.
“SADC has a budget of US$75 million per annum and I am happy to say that there is now less dependency on co-operating partners in terms of contribution to the budget,” said Minister Chinamasa.
“Right now, of that US$75 million, member-states are now contributing 54 percent, of course with the balance coming from co-operating partners.
“It is the intention of the members to further increase contributions to that budget.”
In 2013, according to a document released after the 33rd summit in Malawi, the region proposed that member-states take up 51 percent of the shares in the facility, against 37 percent for the private sector and 12 percent for ICPs.
It was also proposed that the fund will have seed capital of US$1,2 billion, with member-states expected to contribute US$612 million while the private sector would take up US$444 million of the share capital with US$144 million coming from ICPs.
Subscriptions to shares are made over five years in equal instalments.
The first subscription is due within the first year of the Fund coming into force
“We are glad that as a country, despite our circumstances, Zimbabwe is up to date with its subscriptions,” added Minister Chinamasa.
“This reflects the importance we attach as a country to regional integration.”
Any shares of the Development Fund not subscribed by the end of the fifth year are to be re-allocated to other member-states on the basis of ability to pay.
The proposal was to have the first 25 percent of the shares divided equally among member-states and members are obliged to contribute.
The remaining 26 percent are to be allocated based on economic ability.
In the past, member-states contributed a total US$37 million to the SADC budget and the level of contribution dependent on the size of their economies.
SA, as the largest economy in the region, accounted for about 20 percent (US$7,4 million) of the SADC budget, while the second-largest contribution of US$4 million came from oil-rich Angola.
Botswana contributed around US$2,167 million, Malawi contributed US$2 million while Tanzania contributed US$2,4 million and Mozambique coming up with US$2,1 million.
The Seychelles paid the least contribution of US$123 000. 
In addition to the creation of the Regional Development Fund, the region is also in the process of engaging consultants to develop a SADC Resource Mobilisation Framework (Alternative Sources of Funding SADC Regional Programmes).
The framework will explore seven different but co-related alternative sources.
The possible sources include how to curb Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs), the creation of a regional lottery system, harnessing resources from a proposed philanthropy network and database of private sector companies, development of a sharing formula for import and export levies, introduction of regional transport and tourism levies.
According to a study commissioned by the African Union (AU) recently, it is estimated that Africa lost more than US$1,8 trillion to IFFs between 1970 and 2008 alone, and continues to lose resources valued at up to US$150 billion annually through IFFs, mainly through tax evasion, mispricing of goods and services by multi-national companies.
This, therefore, means that resources that are intended to develop Africa are being used elsewhere to improve the economies of other countries in Europe, Asia and the US.
In addition to enhancing economic integration, the bloc is setting up the SADC University of Transformation.
The SADC University of Transformation will significantly enhance the human capital of the region and deliver empowered graduates.
Briefing journalists, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, said the university was one of the highlights of the extraordinary summit.
“The summit also spent some time discussing the concept of a SADC University of Transformation and in this respect, President Robert Mugabe presented a very comprehensive perspective on funding and recruitment of staff,” said Minister Mumbengegwi.
“He noted that in all member-states we have professors educated at Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford. Are they going to be the one doing the transformation or do we have to come up with a new breed of professors and how are we going to get there?”
He said the university, expected to open its doors in 2019, will enroll 300 students consisting of 20 from each SADC member-state.
The Swaziland Government would sponsor 300 of the first students to be admitted into the institution.
The proposed university will be a timely intervention that is expected to complement the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063.
The strategy and its roadmap will be implemented in three phases, covering the three main pillars of industrialisation, competitiveness and regional integration.
The first phase covers the period between 2015 and 2020.
The second phase, expected to cover 30 years, would consists of a period 2021-2050, while the final phase is proposed to run between 2051-2063, building up for convergence with the AU’s Agenda 2063.
The 37th Extra-Ordinary Summit ran under the theme, ‘Resource mobilisation for Investment in Sustainable Energy Infrastructure for Inclusive SADC Industrialisation for the Prosperity of the Region’.
It builds on the regional industrialisation agenda set by President Mugabe during his tenure as SADC Chair in August 2014 to August 2015.