NATIONAL NEWS - A decision was taken at the 39th Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to approve Kiswahili as the fourth SADC Official Working Language.
This is in recognition of its contribution and Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere’s role during the liberation struggle.
The current official languages are English, Portuguese and French.
Declining food production and slow growth in intra-Africa trade levels were flagged as areas of concern at the two-day Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government held at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre. The summit noted the overall decline in food production in the region for the 2018/19 crop season.
The meeting, which was also attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa, urged Member States to implement comprehensive multi-year response plans to tackle the recurrent droughts and food insecurity to boost agricultural production. He summit noted progress in the implementation of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy while also approving the Protocol on Industry, which aims to promote the development of a diversified, innovative and globally competitive industrial base.
“The summit noted with great concern the slow growth in the intra-SADC trade levels, and that the region continues to export unprocessed raw material to the rest of the world, thereby forfeiting the potential benefits of the resource endowments,” a communique issued at the end of the statement read. To this effect, the summit agreed to accelerate the implementation of the industrialisation strategy.
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