Southern Africa

Parliament of the Kingdom of Swaziland - ICT Master Plan

The role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has been acknowledged as important in facilitating the attainment of developmental goals in all sectors of the economy. This was recognized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in May 1996 when African Information Society Initiative (AISI) was launched by the Conference of Ministers in charge of social and economic development and planning as an action framework of information and communication activities in Africa.

Agricultural Input Business Development in Africa: Opportunities, Issues and Challenges

The objective of this study is to review experiences, identify opportunities and make practical recommendations for agricultural input business development in Africa. The underlying premise is that economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa can be achieved by enhancing the productivity and profitability of agriculture through the development of the agricultural input sector in Africa. The study is articulated around the following inter-related components:

Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) for Southern Africa

The sub regional office for Southern Africa, which is based in Lusaka, Zambia, derives its programmatic direction and guidance from its Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) constituted by Commission Resolution 826 (XXXII) of May 1977 and General Assembly Resolution 40/243 to provide a forum for engaging with member States on policy and programme related matters.

Governance of Financial Institutions in Southern Africa

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has an ambitious integration programme that includes establishing a regional central bank and monetary union in 2016; and a regional single currency in 2018. According to the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), the community’s development framework, these initiatives constitute the deepest form of economic and financial integration, and are a part of a strategic push to integrate the region financially and economically.

South-South and Triangular Cooperation: Implications for Southern African Countries

South-South cooperation is a means of development cooperation whereby developing countries assist each other by sharing technical or economic knowledge and skills to facilitate development. It differs from bilateral exchange of knowledge, skills, resources and technical know-how by developing countries, which are often buttressed by bilateral cooperation agreements, in that it is much broader as it entails political, economic and technical collaboration among developing countries (UNDP, 2005).

Report of the Ad hoc Expert Group Meeting on New Trends in South-South and Triangular Cooperation: Implications for Southern African Countries

The Subregional Office for Southern Africa of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA SRO-SA) in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Namibia organized the Ad hoc Expert Group Meeting (AEGM) on “New Trends in South-South and Triangular Cooperation: Implications for Southern Africa Countries”. The objective of the AEGM was to review the background report of the study on “South-South and Triangular Cooperation: Implications for Southern Africa countries” with a view to recommending key revisions that should form the basis for finalizing the report.

Ad-hoc expert group: Addressing the challenges of macroeconomic policy convergence in the Southern African Development Community Region

The objective of the meeting was to review the SADC Macroeconomic Convergence (MEC) Programme for monetary integration. In particular, the experts reviewed a background report on “Addressing the challenges of macroeconomic policy convergence in the SADC region”, which critically examines the SADC macroeconomic convergence criteria, scope and institutional mechanisms, as well as the extent of their implementation and the challenges and constraints encountered so far.

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Food Security Information Systems in SADC

Due to the inadequacies in the Food Security Information Systems (FSIS) at SADC and member States levels, ECA-SA commissioned a background paper to critically review the gaps and recommend ways for enhancing their effectiveness. The Issues Paper assesses the national and sub-regional FSIS in terms of efficiency, levels of partnerships and initiatives, capacity-building needs as well as methodological, institutional, technological and political issues influencing their performance.

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