Virtual, August 4, 2022 (SADC, ECA, NPC Malawi). The SADC National Planning Entities (NPE) Platform, in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Subregional Office for Southern Africa (ECA-SRO-SA) organized a virtual Dialogue on “The Macroeconomic Impact of Russia-Ukraine crisis on the SADC region. The Dialogue, which was attended by more than 120 participants from countries across the region, aimed to, among others, raise awareness among NPEs on the impacts on the crisis on the region, and to explore how best countries could manage the negative impacts while exploiting the opportunities that might arise.
Furthermore, it provided the opportunity to discuss the preliminary findings of an ongoing study on the same commissioned by SADC. The meeting opened with remarks from the Director for Policy, Planning and Resource Mobilization at SADC, Dr Mubita Luwabelwa, delivered on behalf of the Deputy Executive Secretary, Regional Integration, Dr. Thembinkosi Mhlongo. He outlined the objectives of the seminar, referred to key impacts of the crisis, and invited the SADC NPE Platform to offer recommendations on how the region can emerge from it together.
In her remarks, Chief of the Subregional Initiatives Section, ECA-SRO-SA, Ms Isatou Gaye, on behalf of the Director of the Office, Ms. Eunice G. Kamwendo, highlighted the key measures for building resilience to the impact of the crisis on Southern Africa, namely self-reliance, financing, and building institutional resilience to external shocks.
The Director General of the National Planning Commission of Malawi, Dr Thomas Munthali, serving as Chair of the NPE Platform, welcomed participants to the event. He emphasised the regional character of the impacts triggered by this crisis, and encouraged countries to work towards coming up with collective solutions. He underlined the importance of building regional value chains to sustain the region’s economies when faced with crises such as the Ukraine-Russa conflict. Relevant measures to be considered include building regional productive capacities in key sectors, including energy, transport and cross-border infrastructure and ICT, as well as establishing supportive financial systems. In the short-term, the quality of expenditures by member countries will be key to lessen pressures on fragile national budgets.
The SADC consultant, Dr. Nicholas Charalambides, delivered a comprehensive presentation on the impact of the Ukraine crisis on the region, including on prices and supply of key commodities, inflation and financial stability, transport, global growth and trade. Furthermore, Dr. Charalambides reviewed the different pillars of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), within which framework, possible regional response could be positioned.
The presentation was followed by a discussion session during which NPEs from Malawi, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Angola shared their experiences on the impacts of the crisis on their countries, its interplay with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the policy measures being implemented to mitigate the impacts. The consultant and the Chair responded to the key issues arising from the interventions and emphasised the need for impactful region-level solutions in view of the commonalities of the impacts on countries. In this context, they emphasised the potential of developing regional value chains, deepening regional capital markets, and having a joint stance on debt relief negotiations, among others.
The SADC National Planning Entities Platform brings together the NPEs of SADC member States, endorsed as a SADC entity in 2015, and revived in April 2022, thanks to the joint effort of the SADC Secretariat, ECA Subregional Office for Southern Africa and the co-Chairs of the Platform in its latest configuration – Malawi and Zambia.
The overall goal of the initiative is to strengthen the capacity of National Planning Entities in the region, and to support member States of SADC implement regional, continental and global development agendas.
Issued by:
The Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa
UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
P.O. Box 30647, Lusaka, Zambia.
Media Contacts:
Mrs. Lavender Degre,
Communication Officer,
Tel: +260 211 228502/5 Ext. 21307
DL: +260 211 376607
Email: lavender.degre@un.org