Honourable Mr Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa, and Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers,
Honourable Prof. Amon Murwira, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and Outgoing Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers,
Hon. Dr George T. Chaponda, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Malawi, and Chairperson of SADC Ministerial Committee of the Organ,
Honourable Ministers of Foreign Affairs and other portfolios of Respective SADC Member States present here,
Deputy Executive Secretaries,
Staff from the Government of South Africa and the SADC Secretariat,
Invited Technical Experts,
Distinguished Delegates,
Members of the media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon!

It is both an honour and a profound responsibility for me to address this august Retreat of SADC Ministers of Foreign Affairs at a time when the international landscape is undergoing one of the most profound and consequential transformations in modern history. We gather here today not merely to reflect on external developments, but to collectively assess how evolving geopolitical tensions are impacting our Region and to devise clearcut responses to these tensions as we advance our development agenda. While our contexts differ, our interests converge in multiple areas and more specifically on sovereignty, equity, and development.

The global order is experiencing a deep structural transformation characterised by intensifying geopolitical competition, economic fragmentation, technological rivalry, and growing uncertainty in international cooperation and multilateralism. Since 2020, the world has experienced successive and overlapping shocks, beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the Russia–Ukraine conflict, and more recently escalating tensions and war in the Middle East.

These events, which have exposed our region’s existential vulnerabilities, have disrupted global systems in unprecedented ways, altering trade flows, investment patterns, energy markets, financial conditions, and geopolitical alignments, with far-reaching implications for the development of the region. These evolving global dynamics present both challenges and opportunities for our Region. They underscore the urgent need for SADC to strengthen regional solidarity anchored on economic resilience, expedited industrialisation, food, and energy security, and coordinated and mutually beneficial engagement with international partners.

This Retreat, therefore, provides a timely opportunity for Member States as a collective, to reflect deeply on how best to safeguard the Region’s strategic interests, how to advance a tangible and truly impactful regional integration, and how to enhance our collective capacity to respond effectively and decisively to the increasingly uncertain global environment. What we are witnessing today is not merely a temporary cycle of instability, but a fundamental reconfiguration of the global system itself. The assumptions that shaped globalisation for past decades are increasingly being challenged, redefined or totally dismantled.

It is quite evident that trade, finance, technology, energy, and access to strategic resources are becoming instruments of geopolitical competition. At the same time, multilateral institutions are coming under growing strain, even as the international community confronts increasingly interconnected and complex global risks. For developing regions such as SADC, these developments carry profound implications. Our region remains particularly exposed because of structural vulnerabilities that continue to constrain our resilience. Many of our Member States remain dependent on imported energy, fertilizers, machinery, and industrial inputs.

Fiscal space has become increasingly constrained, debt burdens remain elevated, and economic diversification remains insufficient in many sectors. As a result, global shocks are often amplified within our economies, affecting growth, inflation, employment, and social stability.

Honourable Ministers, the current geopolitical environment has also exposed the fragility of global supply chains. Recent disruptions to strategic maritime routes and global logistics systems have demonstrated how vulnerable developing economies are to external shocks originating far beyond our borders. These disruptions affect not only imports and exports, but also the affordability and availability of food, fuel, fertilizers, medicines, and industrial inputs essential for our economic activity.

In the agricultural sector, the implications are especially serious. The region continues to face increasing pressure on food systems arising from rising input costs, climate variability, disruptions in fertilizer supply, and outbreaks of animal diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease. These pressures threaten agricultural productivity, rural livelihoods, export competitiveness, and regional food security. They also underscore the urgent importance of strengthening regional cooperation in veterinary surveillance, biosecurity systems, research, vaccine access, and cross-border coordination.

Despite all the negative impacts stated above, Honourable Ministers, our region remains one of the most strategically endowed regions in the world. We possess vast reserves of oil and gas, abundant renewable energy resources, critical minerals central to the global energy transition, extensive agricultural potential, and strategic transport corridors linking regional and global markets. Few regions possess the combination of resources, geographic positioning, and market potential that SADC commands.

However, history reminds us that the extraction of Africa’s resources has too often generated limited developmental benefits for our people. Despite our immense resource endowment, our economies continue to occupy the lower end of global value chains. We largely export raw or minimally processed commodities while importing higher-value manufactured goods. In other words, we continue to export jobs and import inflation!

This pattern perpetuates dependence, limits job creation, constrains technological advancement, and exposes the region to volatility in global commodity markets. It also undermines our long-term aspirations for structural transformation and sustainable development. This reality, therefore, compels us to pursue a more deliberate strategy that places industrialisation, value addition, and beneficiation at the centre of our development agenda.

Energy security is critical. The region should continue investing in power generation, transmission infrastructure, renewable energy systems, and cross-border electricity trade, while also strengthening petroleum and gas independence through regional refining capacity, strategic fuel reserves, domestic exploration, and integrated oil and gas pipeline networks linking producing countries to consumer markets within the region.

Strengthening regional energy integration through mechanisms such as the Southern African Power Pool will help reduce vulnerability to external energy shocks, improve energy self-sufficiency, and support the much-needed industrialisation and sustain economic growth.

Similarly, investment in transport and logistics infrastructure remains central to regional competitiveness. Efficient ports, rail systems, road corridors, and border management systems are essential for facilitating trade, reducing transaction costs, improving market access, and strengthening regional integration. Infrastructure development must therefore remain a strategic enabling priority for the region.

At the same time, we must strengthen domestic resource mobilisation and improve coordination on external financing and debt management. External financing arrangements are becoming closely linked to access to strategic resources, potentially constraining long-term policy flexibility for developing economies such as ours. This underscores the importance of pursuing coordinated regional financing approaches that safeguard our strategic interests and development priorities. In this regard, operationalisation of the Regional Development Fund remains a critical enabler to regional integration.

The RDF offers an opportunity for SADC to mobilise resources for regional priorities, support strategic infrastructure and industrialisation programmes, and reduce dependence on unsustainable external financing mechanisms. The RDF can significantly enhance the region’s capacity to finance its development agenda on its own terms.

Honourable Ministers, your role in this process is paramount. In the current global environment, diplomacy must extend beyond traditional political engagement. It must also serve as an instrument for economic transformation, strategic positioning, and regional integration. Ministers of Foreign Affairs are therefore not only astute custodians of political relations, but also architects of the region’s collective engagement with the global economy and international system. Greater alignment is, therefore, critical in our diplomatic positions, strategic partnerships, and participation in multilateral forums. SADC Member States should increasingly coordinate positions on trade, finance, climate, energy, peace and security, and reform of global governance institutions. Speaking with greater coherence and consistency will strengthen the region’s influence and bargaining power in global affairs.

The Secretariat and the region at large are looking forward to the outcome of this Retreat with great expectation. The outcomes of the Retreat should provide strategic guidance for future regional policy direction and coordination, and related sectoral work. The recommendations should contribute towards strengthening regional resilience, safeguarding stability, enhancing policy coherence, and accelerating implementation of the SADC regional integration and industrialisation agenda.

The choices we make collectively in the next couple of days will determine whether our region perpetually remains vulnerable to external shocks or that it emerges stronger, more resilient, and more self-sustaining. This requires bold leadership, strategic coordination, and unwavering commitment to regional solidarity and collective action. This also requires a shift in our thinking to find solutions to our developmental and integration challenges. It requires an increased belief and trust in ourselves that we are capable, we are experienced and talented enough to solve our problems and determine our future.

It further requires us to focus on and be unrelenting in executing actions and interventions from the retreat. We need no permission or blessings from anyone external to the region to carry out all these things. May I repeat once more that, we are adequate, we are capable, we are experienced, and we are talented enough to create a renewed, progressive, and truly integrated and resilient region.

I thank you for your attention! Muito obrigado! Merci beaucoup! Asante Sana! Tatenda! Siyabonga!