Nexus in Southern Africa // SADC countries attending the Sadc Water, Energy Ministers meeting in Swazi

The Prime Minister of Swaziland, HE the Right Honourable Dr. Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini has opened the 36th Joint Meeting of SADC Ministers responsible for Energy and Water, Ezulwini, Swaziland with a call for faster industrialisation as a key to economic development of the SADC Region. His Excellency the Right Honourable Dr. Dlamini said investment is needed in Energy and Water infrastructure, noting that the development of the region will not be fully realised without substantial development in Energy and Water Sectors. “Our existing infrastructures for both power and water do not yet even meet a large proportion of the basic social needs of our respective peoples, let alone satisfying the massive energy and water needs of an industrialised economy of the present day” said the Right Honourable Dr. Dlamini. He added: “That time has arrived, and the objective of the mandate is clear to us all – for more rapid and inclusive industrialization in our region, we need a very substantial amount of new investment in our energy and water infrastructures”. During the Extraordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government in March 2017, Ministers were motivated and mandated to convene a High-Level Ministerial Resource Mobilisation Workshop and Regional Investment Conference on Regional Energy Projects. The workshop and investment conference will be held on 12-13 July, 2017 at Royal Swazi Hotel, Ezulwini. The resource mobilization workshop is expected to among other things focus on energy generation projects that SADC has identified and prioritized to be implemented from 2015 to 2027. Source: press release by SADC