SADC ministers to hold strengthening finance cooperation talks in Harare

Gaborone – Ministers of finance and investment and peer review panels from the 16 Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries, including Eswatini, will meet in Harare, Zimbabwe, on July 2, 2026, to strengthen cooperation in investment, financial integration, and macroeconomic surveillance.

The SADC secretariat stated on Wednesday that the goal is to promote sustainable economic development and inclusive growth in the region. 

Enoch Godongwana, South Africa’s finance minister, will chair the meeting on behalf of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Finance and Investment. 

They will be discussing, among other things:

• The SADC-Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), a regional electronic payment system developed to settle cross-border transactions faster without having to rely on intermediary banks from outside the SADC region.
• FDI promotion
• Operationalisation of the SADC Regional Development Fund (RDF) and progress on the establishment of the SADC Development Finance Resource Centre (DFRC) through a Charter. 
• The Committee of SADC Stock Exchanges (COSSE) matters, including the interconnectivity of SADC stock exchanges. 
• Matters related to the Committee of Insurance, Securities and Non-Banking Financial Authorities (CISNA), which is responsible for the supervision of insurance, securities, and non-banking financial institutions in the SADC Member States. 
• Anti-money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) aimed at mitigating financial crimes, including money laundering and terrorist financing. 
• Status of signing and accession to SADC protocols and legal instruments related to finance and investment, such as the SADC Agreement on Assistance in Tax Matters and the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment and its annexes. 
• Reflections and deliberations on the outcomes of the SADC Foreign Affairs Ministers Retreat, which was held in May 2026 in Skukuza, Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa, to assess the impact of evolving global geopolitical developments in the SADC region. 

The committee is the result of the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment, which establishes the legal foundation for regional cooperation and harmonisation in finance, investment, and macroeconomic policy. It also underlines the importance of matching member states’ finance and investment policies with SADC’s objectives in order to prevent policy adjustments in one country from having a harmful impact on others.

Senior Treasury and Central Bank officials will first meet on 29-30 June 2026, the statement said. These senior officials serve as both a clearing and advisory committee, providing technical input to inform the ministers’ deliberations.

The ministers foster regional integration, cooperation, and coordination with the goal of diversifying and expanding productive activities, improving trade, and promoting long-term economic growth and poverty reduction. 

The ministers will be accompanied by their respective countries’ central bank governors.