Patience Makwele
South Africa has taken over the chairmanship of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) with a push to raise intra-regional trade to 50% and extract greater economic value from the region’s critical mineral wealth.
South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation, Ronald Lamola, made the commitment on Wednesday in Durban when he formally accepted the SADC Council of Ministers chairmanship for 2026–2027.
Lamola said South Africa’s tenure would focus on four priorities: peace and security, industrialisation, infrastructure development, and social and human capital development.
At the centre of the industrialisation agenda is a drive to move SADC economies beyond exporting raw materials and towards beneficiation, regional value chains and increased trade among member states.
“Minerals are not wealth until knowledge transforms them,” Lamola said, warning that the region’s mineral abundance would not automatically translate into prosperity.
The SADC region holds nearly 30% of the world’s proven critical mineral reserves, including about half of global cobalt reserves and 20% of graphite reserves, according to Lamola.
He said the region had an opportunity to use rising global demand for critical minerals to accelerate economic transformation, provided member states developed industries around those resources instead of continuing to export them in raw form.
Lamola also set an ambitious target of achieving 50% intra-SADC trade, saying regional trade currently remained too low.
SADC executive secretary Elias Magosi said intra-regional trade reached 20.2% in 2025, driven mainly by manufactured goods, fuels, machinery, vehicles and agricultural products.
While the increase was encouraging, Magosi said regional trade remained below pre-Covid levels, highlighting the need for stronger regional markets and value chains.
The region nevertheless recorded a significant increase in foreign direct investment, with inflows rising 44% to US$11 billion in 2025, largely driven by Mozambique and South Africa.
However, Magosi warned that manufacturing remained a weak point, with its contribution to regional GDP declining from 11.3% in 2024 to 10.9% in 2025.
He said no SADC member state had yet reached the regional target of investing 1% of GDP in research and development, while the African Union target stands at 1.5%.
Lamola said infrastructure would be another major focus of South Africa’s chairmanship, particularly reliable energy, transport corridors, ports, digital networks and water systems needed to support regional industrialisation and the movement of goods.
Energy access has improved, with Magosi reporting that regional electricity access increased from 56% in 2024 to 60% in 2025.
However, the region remains well short of its 85% electricity-access target for 2030.
Migration and movement of people will also feature prominently during South Africa’s tenure.
Lamola called on SADC countries to sign the Protocol on the Facilitation of Movement of Persons, arguing that orderly movement across borders was central to deeper regional integration.
Magosi said 15 member states currently provide SADC citizens with a 90-day visa-free regime, while 10 countries have signed the movement protocol and seven have ratified it. Eleven ratifications are required for the protocol to enter into force.
He said regional integration should promote tolerance, social cohesion and mutual respect while ensuring migration remained orderly and respected the rule of law.
The bloc is also facing mounting climate and food-security pressures.
Magosi warned of a potentially severe El Niño event during the 2026/27 season, which could further worsen food insecurity, humanitarian needs and pressure on energy and fertiliser costs.
He called for greater investment in early-warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, disaster-risk financing and preparedness.
Agriculture, which provides livelihoods for more than 70% of the region’s population, showed signs of recovery in 2025, with growth estimated at between 2% and 3%.
Magosi said the number of food-insecure people in the region had also declined by 16%, although recent foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks continue to threaten livestock production, trade and livelihoods.
Outgoing Council of Ministers chair Amon Murwira of Zimbabwe urged SADC to move beyond developing policies and frameworks and focus on implementation.
He called for stronger regional trade, greater financial self-reliance, improved movement of medicines across borders and predictable financing for peace and security operations.
“SADC was created for independence and not dependence,” Murwira said.
Lamola said South Africa accepted the chairmanship as a collective responsibility and pledged to work with member states to turn SADC’s regional commitments into tangible improvements for its citizens.
The test of the new chairmanship, however, will be whether those commitments translate into stronger regional trade, jobs, infrastructure and greater economic value for Southern Africans.
