SADC works on single currency
Wednesday, 15 August 2007
LUSAKA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua): Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) member states are working on possibilities for the establishment of a single currency unit for the region by 2018, deputy executive secretary Joao Caholo was quoted as saying by the official website of 2007 SADC summit yesterday.
Caholo said over the weekend that SADC had already created a Macroeconomic Surveillance and Performance Unit at the secretariat in Botswana to facilitate for among other things, the creation of a monetary union.
Meanwhile, SADC director of infrastructure development Remmy Makumbe said that the provision of quality infrastructure, which can facilitate the handling of imports and exports among member states, is key to sustaining growth in trade and business in the Southern African region, according to the same source.
Speaking to local media last week, Makumbe said that the challenge that SADC member states are facing was to attract additional investments to support infrastructure development which is "one of the key challenges" in the region.
Zambia is to host the SADC Heads of States and Government Summit in Lusaka on Aug. 16 to 17.
The SADC currently has 14 member states, namely, Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The 14 members boast of a total population of over 230 million and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of over 200 billion U. S. dollars.
Caholo said over the weekend that SADC had already created a Macroeconomic Surveillance and Performance Unit at the secretariat in Botswana to facilitate for among other things, the creation of a monetary union.
Meanwhile, SADC director of infrastructure development Remmy Makumbe said that the provision of quality infrastructure, which can facilitate the handling of imports and exports among member states, is key to sustaining growth in trade and business in the Southern African region, according to the same source.
Speaking to local media last week, Makumbe said that the challenge that SADC member states are facing was to attract additional investments to support infrastructure development which is "one of the key challenges" in the region.
Zambia is to host the SADC Heads of States and Government Summit in Lusaka on Aug. 16 to 17.
The SADC currently has 14 member states, namely, Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The 14 members boast of a total population of over 230 million and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of over 200 billion U. S. dollars.