SADC Unites Against Drought and Instability

Fellow citizens,

Today we participated in the virtual Extraordinary Summit of the SADC Heads of State and Government, where we launched the SADC Appeal on Food Shortages due to the El Niño-induced drought affecting the whole region.

The Extraordinary Summit was convened at the behest of the SADC Chairman, His Excellency João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola who we commended for the initiative.

The impact of the debilitating drought on food and energy security in the SADC region cannot be overstated. Unless we collectively utilize our resource endowments to support deficit areas, our regional economies will suffer, and our economic gains could be reversed due to this humanitarian crisis.

No SADC member country has been spared by this crisis, and the solidarity and unity displayed at the Summit to combat this common challenge is commendable.

The strategies of water harvesting and using coal as an alternative energy source, similar to what Western nations have resorted to, should be urgently explored.

Additionally, the virtual meeting strongly condemned the attempted coup in a SADC member state, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and expressed zero tolerance for unconstitutional means of seizing power.

Hakainde Hichilema,

President of the Republic of Zambia.