By Chantelle Muzanenhamo
Southern African leaders have placed industrialisation, agricultural transformation, and energy transition at the heart of their regional agenda, as the 45th Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit concluded in Antananarivo on Sunday.
With Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina assuming the chairmanship of the bloc, the summit endorsed a new theme: “Advancing Industrialisation, Agricultural Transformation, and Energy Transition for a Resilient SADC.” The focus signals a shift toward economic resilience, climate-smart agriculture, and a just energy transition as priorities for the region’s future.
Key economic initiatives included the launch of a SADC Regional Development Fund to mobilise long-term investment, acceleration of the North–South Economic Corridor and Maritime Corridor strategies to strengthen trade routes, and new commitments to national energy compacts, with support from partners such as the World Bank and African Development Bank.
The summit also called for deeper investment in food security, particularly through irrigation, climate resilience, and control of transboundary animal diseases such as foot and mouth. Member States were urged to ramp up their response to cholera and gender-based violence, recognising the impact of these challenges on regional growth.
While economic transformation dominated the agenda, leaders also addressed peace and security, reaffirming commitment to stabilising eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), welcoming Lesotho’s constitutional reforms, and reiterating solidarity with Western Sahara and Gaza.
President Rajoelina said his chairmanship would focus on positioning SADC as a driver of sustainable growth.
“Industrialisation, modernised agriculture and a fair energy transition are the building blocks of a stronger and united SADC,” he declared at the close of the summit.