The Southern African Development Community and the Federal Republic of Germany have renewed their development partnership with a €26.1 million commitment for 2025, following bilateral talks held on 5 and 6 November at the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana.
The negotiations were co-chaired by SADC Executive Secretary H.E. Elias Magosi and Ms. Birgit Gerhardus, Head of the Division for Southern Africa at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Germany’s Ambassador to Botswana and Special Representative to SADC, H.E. Gabriela Bennemann, also attended. The discussions marked over 40 years of cooperation between SADC and Germany, building on the last round held in Berlin in December 2023.
The new funding will support regional priorities including economic integration and trade, transboundary water management, biodiversity conservation with a focus on reducing human-wildlife conflict, and institutional strengthening at both regional and member state levels.
Germany will also contribute resources from its continental programmes to key initiatives such as the Law Enforcement and Anti-Poaching Strategy, the Regional Energy Master Plan, the North-South Corridor infrastructure project, and the Silence the Guns Plan on illicit arms control. Support will extend to fostering decarbonised and inclusive value chains for transition minerals and continuing global programmes in disaster risk management, gender-based violence prevention, and aquatic food systems.
Both parties recognised the challenges posed by global geopolitical tensions and economic shifts and underlined the importance of their partnership in advancing regional integration, poverty reduction, and sustainable development in line with SADC Vision 2050 and the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020–2030.
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