INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT has
been placed at the core of the region's community-
building agenda and concerted efforts are
being made to ensure the availability of an integrated,
efficient and cost-effective system to
sustain regional economic development and
trade.
The 32nd Summit of SADC Heads of State
and Government set for 17-18 August in
Mozambique is expected to speed up the provision
of regional infrastructure, seen as a critical
foundation for the realisation of regional
integration objectives.
THE QUESTION of whether the Rio+20 Summit held in Brazil in
June succeeded in producing a satisfactory outcome can be a matter
of conjecture.
However, what is in no doubt is the fact that the conference produced
a 49-page outcome document, titled “The Future We Want”.
The outcome document contains what critics have called weak, non-binding
commitments, confirmed by what China and the G77 – including
most of Africa – saw as a constant watering down of the text.
Another major concern was that the declaration has no mechanism
for implementation, or the means of financing it. For example,
while acknowledging the need to mobilise resources, there were no
specific figures committed.
CHINA AND Africa have
agreed on a new plan of action
for the three years to 2015 as
the two sides strive to achieve
a “new type of strategic partnership”.
Ministers in charge of foreign
affairs and economic cooperation
from China and 50
African countries resolved at
the 5th Ministerial Conference
of the Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation (FOCAC) held in
July in Beijing, China, to
deepen the strategic partnership
underpinned by the values of political equality, mutual
trust, economic win-win cooperation
and cultural exchanges.
