SADC urges members to develop economic recovery plans

As part of the Southern African Development Committee (SADC) regional response to COVID-19 pandemic, countries in the bloc have been challenged to develop economic recovery plans to ensure among others, improvement in macroeconomic indicators.

SADC has urged countries to revive job creation as well as fast track government efforts towards mobilising resources to revive heavily affected sectors at national level.

Develop resilience-building initiatives, including employment creation in rural areas, incorporating climate-smart technologies in subsidies and conservation agriculture, said SADC Executive Secretary, Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax in the latest communiqué to the bloc. She said nations should provide an indirect income transfer to households and communities to buffer the negative economic and food security consequences of COVID-19.

“Where on-site distribution of school meals is not feasible, consider providing larger take-home rations or cash-based transfers,” Dr. Tax, pleading with member states to pay special attention to the rising cases of domestic violence and gender-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July, SADC secretariat bemoaned the slump in tourism due to COVID-19, forecasting that the ordeal was to slip over to communities and startups in the sector.

SADC highlighted that communities who derive direct benefits from ecotourism are badly impacted, calling for support required to enable them to subsidize basic necessities such as food relief and food for work programmes, to break the likely poverty cycle associated with loss of employment and low economic activities in this sector. Statistics indicate that tourism contributes significantly to the economies of the region through hunting and associated industries, game viewing and photographic safaris.

Another sector of the bloc’s economies choking is the logistic sector, with serious border delays still occurring to trucks on cross border trips as countries take measures to fully comply with the SADC and Tripartite Trade and Transport Facilitation Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures for the Movement of Persons, Goods and Services across the region during COVID-19 Pandemic.

SADC has challenged countries to amend and align national transport guidelines in line with the Tripartite Guidelines on Trade and Transport Facilitation for Safe, Efficient and Cost Effective Movement of Goods and Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Countries are expected to share information on additional commodities that can move through cross border designated routes, way points, truck stops and fueling points to be used by commercial truck drivers and revised and new regulations affecting cross border trade and transport through the secretariat.

Meanwhile, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia have made progress in preparations for piloting the Corridor Trip Monitoring System (CTMS) on sections on the Trans Kalahari, North - South Corridors and the Walvis B a y - N d o l a - L u b u m b a s h i Corridors.

According to the SADC, transport operators in the countries have started up-loading operator, driver and vehicle information onto the CTMS. “The CTMS was developed to facilitate sharing of driver wellness including COVID-19 test results, driver, and vehicle and load information and to facilitate tracking of cross border movements and where required, contact tracing.”