The acting executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), António Pedro, argued on Thursday that the region must make itself attractive to private investors in order to fill the funding gap that currently exists.
“We must focus our efforts on attracting investment and promoting awareness of the use and opportunities for investment in the region, which requires profiling, diagnosis, studies and appropriate analyses,” said the official speaking at the 43rd summit of the Southern African Development Community, taking place today in Luanda.
“We need to create a suitable environment for national investment while we dedicate ourselves to attracting foreign direct investment,” added António Pedro, in a speech heard by the presidents of Angola, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, among others.
In his speech, the UNECA leader defended the implementation of industrial policies that increase the possibility of exports and stressed the wide range of natural resources available to the countries of southern Africa, also emphasising the need to apply policies that favour local content and the importance of the carbon market.
The 43rd ordinary summit of the regional organisation’s political leaders is being held under the slogan “Human and Financial Capital: The Main Factors for Sustainable Industrialisation in the SADC Region”.
The president of Angola, João Lourenço, who succeeds his counterpart from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Tchisekedi, as the bloc’s political leader, will speak at the opening of the proceedings, which will address political, socio-economic, peace and security, youth empowerment and women’s issues.
Angola’s political leadership of SADC is likely to be marked by two areas of tension, namely the conflict in the east of neighbouring DRCongo and acts of terrorism in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, where SADC has a force (SAMIM – Southern African Military Mission) to combat Islamic fundamentalism.
SADC is an economic bloc made up of the Portuguese-speaking countries Angola and Mozambique, as well as South Africa, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Eswatini, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
