By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to attend the 7th Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) heads of state and government summit in Gaborone Botswana.
Presidency office announced on Wednesday the summit will be held on June 30.
According to the Presidency, the summit will be attended by Heads of State and Government and representatives of SACU Member States, including Botswana, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Kingdom of Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa.
“Ramaphosa will be accompanied by Minister Ebrahim Patel of Trade and Industry, and Deputy Ministers David Masondo and Fikile Majola of Finance and of Trade and Industry, respectively,” the Presidency said in a statement.
The priorities of this programme include:
– Industrialisation through the development of regional value chains, investment attraction and export promotion;
– Regional Financing Mechanism;
– Trade Facilitation and Logistics, and
– Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“The summit will further consider the five-year SACU Strategic Plan, as approved by the Council of Ministers on 2 June 2022,” the Presidency said.
Sacu is the oldest customs union in the world and its summit is held annually to discuss progress on implementation of its agreed work programme. The 7th summit will consider progress made on implementation of the refocused work programme priorities.