President Lazarus Chakwera has left Malawi this morning for a 10-day trip to Angola and South Africa.
The Malawi leader has departed through Kamuzu International Airport for Angola where he is expected to attend the 43rd Session of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Summit Meeting scheduled to take place from 17th to 18th August, 2023.
Speaking before departure, Chakwera said the SADC Summit provides a new opportunity for leaders to discuss the status of the bloc’s regional peace, security, democracy, and trade among others.
“The SADC summit is an opportune moment to assert Malawi’s development aspirations within the region and widen our economic prospects through meaningful regional integration and cooperation. I am, therefore, heading to Angola to align with fellow SADC leaders on how best we can use human and financial capital to drive sustainable industrialisation within the bloc,” wrote Chakwera on his Facebook Page after departure.
During the summit, Angola is expected to be elected chairperson of SADC, succeeding the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The summit will also provide political direction and commitment on how the region should position itself in the face of diverse and complex opportunities and threats that increasingly demand regional cooperation.
This year’s SADC Summit will be held under the theme:”Human and Financial Capital: The key drivers for sustainable industrialisation of the SADC Region.”
After attending the SADC summit, Chakwera will proceed to Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa, to attend the 15th Session of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Plus Outreach Summit from 22nd to 24th August, 2023.
The theme for the summit meeting is BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism.
The objective of the summit meeting is to pursue, among other issues, alternative international financial systems.
On the BRICS summit, Chakwera said he will champion Malawi’s cause with emerging and fellow developing markets through multilateral cooperation to rebalance the world’s economic and political tectonics and make the global system conducive for inclusive growth.
“I also expect to engage two BRICS key members, China and India, on easing our debt repayment schedule,” he said.
President Chakwera who has travelled together with First Lady Monica Chakwera is expected to return home on 25 August, 2023.
