View source for Southern African Development Community

{{Short description|Inter-governmental organization}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}

{{Infobox geopolitical organization
| conventional_long_name = Southern African Development Community
| name = {{collapsible list
 |titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;padding-left:2.5em;font-size:85%;<!--size of [show]/[hide] link-->
 | title = {{center|4 other official names:}}
 | liststyle = text-align:center;font-size:95%;font-weight:normal;
 | {{native name|fr|Communauté de développement d'Afrique australe}}
 | {{native name|pt|Comunidade para o Desenvolvimento da África Austral}}
 | {{native name|af|Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelingsgemeenskap}}
 | {{native name|sw|Jumuiya ya Maendeleo ya Nchi za Kusini mwa Afrika}}}}
| linking_name = The Southern African Development Community
| image_flag = Flag of SADC.svg
| alt_flag =
| symbol_type = Logo
| image_symbol = Seal of the SADC.svg
| alt_symbol =
| symbol_width = 95px
| motto = "Towards a Common Future"
| anthem = "SADC Anthem"
| text_symbol_type =
| text_symbol =
| image_map = Southern African Development Community.svg
| alt_map =
| map_width = 265px
| map_caption = Map of Africa indicating SADC (light green) and SADC+[[Southern African Customs Union|SACU]] (dark green) members
| org_type = [[Intergovernmental organization|Intergovernmental]]
| membership_type = Membership
| membership = {{collapsible list
 |titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
 |title = 16 states
 |{{AGO}} | {{BWA}} | {{COM}} | {{COD}} | {{SWZ}} | {{LSO}} | {{MDG}} | {{MWI}} | {{MUS}} | {{MOZ}} | {{NAM}} | {{SYC}} | {{ZAF}} | {{TZA}} | {{ZMB}} | {{ZWE}}
 }}
| admin_center_type = Headquarters
| admin_center = [[Gaborone]]
| largest_city = [[Kinshasa]]
| languages_type = [[Working language]]s
| languages = {{unbulleted list |[[English language|English]]|[[French language|French]]|[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]|[[Swahili language|Swahili]]}}
| leader_title1 = Summit Chairperson
| leader_name1 = {{flagicon|Zimbabwe}} [[Emmerson Mnangagwa]]
| leader_title2 = Council Chairperson
| leader_name2 = {{flagicon|Zimbabwe}} [[Frederick Shava]]
| leader_title3 = SADC PF Chairperson
| leader_name3 = {{flagicon|Seychelles}} [[Roger Mancienne]]
| leader_title4 = [[SADC Tribunal]]<br />President
| leader_name4 = ''Disbanded''
| leader_title5 = Executive Secretary
| leader_name5 = {{flagicon|Botswana}} [[Elias Magosi|Elias Mpedi Magosi]]
| legislature = SADC Parliamentary Forum
| established_event1 = as [[Southern African Development Coordination Conference|SADCC]]
| established_date1 = 1 April 1980
| established_event2 = as SADC
| established_date2 = 17 August 1992
| official_website = {{URL|www.sadc.int}}
| area_km2 = 9672702<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Land area (sq. km) - South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, Angola, Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep., Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.TOTL.K2?locations=ZA-BW-LS-NA-SZ-AO-KM-CD-MG-MW-MU-MZ-SC-TZ-ZM-ZW |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324234332/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.TOTL.K2?locations=ZA-BW-LS-NA-SZ-AO-KM-CD-MG-MW-MU-MZ-SC-TZ-ZM-ZW |archive-date=24 March 2023 |access-date=2 November 2021 |publisher=World Bank}}</ref>
| area_sq_mi = 3734651
| area_footnote =
| percent_water =
| area_label = Total
| area_label2 =
| population_estimate = {{increase}} 363,222,621<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Population, total - South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, Angola, Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep., Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=ZA-BW-LS-NA-SZ-AO-KM-CD-MG-MW-MU-MZ-SC-TZ-ZM-ZW |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325064021/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=ZA-BW-LS-NA-SZ-AO-KM-CD-MG-MW-MU-MZ-SC-TZ-ZM-ZW |archive-date=25 March 2023 |access-date=2 November 2021 |publisher=World Bank}}</ref>
| population_estimate_year = 2020
| population_density_km2 =
| population_density_sq_mi =
| GDP_PPP =
| GDP_PPP_year =
| GDP_PPP_rank =
| GDP_PPP_per_capita =
| GDP_nominal = {{decrease}} $854.07{{nbs}}billion<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=GDP (current US$) - South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini, Angola, Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep., Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=ZA-BW-LS-NA-SZ-AO-KM-CD-MG-MW-MU-MZ-SC-TZ-ZM-ZW |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325054448/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=ZA-BW-LS-NA-SZ-AO-KM-CD-MG-MW-MU-MZ-SC-TZ-ZM-ZW |archive-date=25 March 2023 |access-date=2 November 2021 |publisher=World Bank}}</ref>
| GDP_nominal_year = 2020
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = $2,353
| Gini =
| Gini_ref =
| Gini_year =
| HDI =
| HDI_ref =
| HDI_year =
| currency =
| currency_code =
| time_zone =
| utc_offset = +1 to +4
| drives_on = right (in Angola, Comoros, DR Congo and Madagascar)<br />left (in the rest of SADC)
| footnote_a =
}}

The '''Southern African Development Community''' ('''SADC''') is an [[inter-governmental organization]] headquartered in [[Gaborone]], Botswana.

== Goals ==
The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 16 countries in southern Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schenoni |first=Luis L. |date=3 April 2018 |title=The Southern African unipolarity |url=https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstreams/6e66974e-dffd-49c5-be03-79913fbbeb19/download |journal=Journal of Contemporary African Studies |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=207–228 |doi=10.1080/02589001.2017.1364355 |s2cid=158137607 |via=Taylor and Francis+NEJM}}</ref> Although its primary objectives are development, economic growth, and poverty alleviation, peacekeeping has become increasingly important to the SADC.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last=Shinn |first=David H. |author-link=David H. Shinn |title=China's Relations with Africa: a New Era of Strategic Engagement |last2=Eisenman |first2=Joshua |date=2023 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-21001-0 |location=New York}}</ref>{{Rp|page=70}}

== History ==
The origins of SADC are in the 1960s and 1970s, when the leaders of majority-ruled countries and national liberation movements coordinated their political, diplomatic and military struggles to bring an end to colonial and white-minority rule in southern Africa.{{cn|date=January 2025}} The immediate forerunner of the political and security cooperation leg of today's SADC was the informal [[Frontline States]] (FLS) grouping. It was formed in 1980.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

[[File:SADCC flag (1980-1992).svg|thumb|Flag of the SADCC (1980-1992)]]
The [[Southern African Development Coordination Conference]] (SADCC) was the forerunner of the socio-economic cooperation leg of today's SADC. The adoption by nine majority-ruled southern African countries of the Lusaka declaration on 1 April 1980 paved the way for the formal establishment of SADCC in April 1980.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Membership of the FLS and SADCC sometimes differed.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

SADCC was transformed into SADC on 17 August 1992, with the adoption by the founding members of SADCC and newly independent [[Namibia]] of the Windhoek declaration and treaty establishing SADC. The 1992 SADC provided for both socio-economic cooperation and political and security cooperation. In reality, the FLS was dissolved only in 1994, after South Africa's first democratic elections. Subsequent efforts to place political and security cooperation on a firm institutional footing under SADC's umbrella failed.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

On 14 August 2001, the 1992 SADC treaty was amended. The amendment heralded the overhaul of the structures, policies and procedures of SADC, a process which is ongoing. One of the changes is that political and security cooperation is institutionalised in the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security (OPDS); one of the principal SADC bodies. It is subject to the oversight of the organisation's supreme body, the Summit, which comprises the heads of state or government.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

The organisation holds its own [[multi-sport event]] in the form of the SADC Games, which was first held in 2004 in [[Maputo]]. Originally planned for an earlier date in Malawi and Lesotho, organisational issues led to abandonment of the plan and the SADC issuing a fine of $100,000 against Malawi.<ref>[http://www.panapress.com/Organisation-of-SADC-Games-to-cost-a-million-dollars--13-482221-18-lang2-index.html Organisation of SADC Games to cost a million dollars] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306102752/http://www.panapress.com/Organisation-of-SADC-Games-to-cost-a-million-dollars--13-482221-18-lang2-index.html |date=6 March 2018 }}. Panapress (11 May 2003). Retrieved 15 September 2014.</ref> The first event in 2004 in Maputo resulted in over 1000 youths under-20 from 10 countries taking part in a sports programme including [[athletics (sport)|athletics]], [[association football|football]], [[netball]], [[boxing]] and [[basketball]].<ref>Valy, Bayano (June 2004). [http://www.sardc.net/editorial/sadctoday/v7-2-6-04/games.htm The first Under-20 Zone Six SADC Games] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051111053523/http://www.sardc.net/editorial/sadctoday/v7-2-6-04/games.htm |date=11 November 2005 }}. SADC Today, Vol.7 No.2 June 2004. Retrieved 15 September 2014.</ref>

In 2012, the SADC deployed peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to counter a rebel threat.<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|page=70}} The deployed troops were supplied by Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa.<ref name=":32" />{{Rp|page=70}}

In August 2019 SADC adopted [[Swahili language|Swahili]] as its fourth working language, alongside English, French and Portuguese.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SADC adopts Kiswahili as 4th working language – The Mast Online |url=https://www.themastonline.com/2019/08/29/sadc-adopts-kiswahili-as-4th-working-language/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212002845/https://www.themastonline.com/2019/08/29/sadc-adopts-kiswahili-as-4th-working-language/ |archive-date=12 December 2019 |access-date=30 May 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> Kiswahili – a lingua franca in the [[African Great Lakes]] region, other parts of East Africa, and to a lesser degree, parts of Southern Africa – is an official language of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and of the [[African Union]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mazrui, Ali Al'Amin. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/441402890 |title=Swahili state and society : the political economy of an African language |date=1995 |publisher=East African Educational Publishers |isbn=0-85255-729-9 |oclc=441402890 |access-date=22 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623213615/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/441402890 |archive-date=23 June 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Member states ==
{{Politics of the African Union mini|financial|width=5em}}

As of 2022, the SADC has a total of 16 [[member states]]:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Member States |url=http://www.sadc.int/member-states |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521032345/https://www.sadc.int/member-states |archive-date=21 May 2020 |access-date=31 July 2017 |publisher=Southern African Development Community}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|+
Member states surface area and populations<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |title=Population by sex, annual rate of population increase, surface area and density |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2012/Table03.pdf |url-status=live |journal=United Nations Statistics Division |pages=1–2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110134404/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2012/Table03.pdf |archive-date=10 November 2013 |access-date=27 January 2017}}</ref>
! rowspan="2" |Country
! rowspan="2" |Area (km<sup>2</sup>)
! rowspan="2" |Population (2020)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Population, total - Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep., Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe {{!}} Data |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?end=2020&locations=AO-BW-KM-CD-SZ-LS-MG-MW-MU-MZ-NA-SC-ZA-TZ-ZM-ZW&start=2020&view=bar |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230221246/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?end=2020&locations=AO-BW-KM-CD-SZ-LS-MG-MW-MU-MZ-NA-SC-ZA-TZ-ZM-ZW&start=2020&view=bar |archive-date=30 December 2022 |access-date=13 March 2022 |website=data.worldbank.org}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |GDP (USD)
! rowspan="2" |Notes on Membership
|-
! Total (billions)<ref name="GDPnom_IMF">{{Cite web |date=1 April 2022 |title=IMF World Economic Outlook Database |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/April/weo-report?c=614,616,632,636,734,666,674,676,684,688,728,718,199,738,754,698,&s=NGDPD,NGDPDPC,&sy=2022&ey=2022&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230221246/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/April/weo-report?c=614,616,632,636,734,666,674,676,684,688,728,718,199,738,754,698,&s=NGDPD,NGDPDPC,&sy=2022&ey=2022&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |access-date=21 June 2022 |website=International Monetary Fund |language=en}}</ref>
! Per Capita<ref name="GDPnom_IMF" />
|-
| align="left" |{{AGO}}
| 1,246,700
| 32,866,268
| $124.86
| $3,792.75
| align="left" |
|-
| align="left" |{{BWA}}
| 582,000
| 2,351,625
| $18.42
| $7,519.2
|
|-
| align="left" |{{COM}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 August 2017 |title=Communiqué of the 37th Summit SADC of Heads of State and Government or Tambo Building, Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) Pretoria, South Africa |url=http://www.sadc.int/files/4715/0347/1755/37th_SADC_Summit_English_Communique.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831225442/http://www.sadc.int/files/4715/0347/1755/37th_SADC_Summit_English_Communique.pdf |archive-date=31 August 2017 |access-date=31 July 2017 |publisher=Southern African Development Community}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=20 August 2017 |title=The Union of Comoros becomes the 16th SADC Member State |url=https://www.sadc.int/news-events/news/union-comoros-becomes-16th-sadc-member-state/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514184238/https://www.sadc.int/news-events/news/union-comoros-becomes-16th-sadc-member-state/ |archive-date=14 May 2019 |access-date=31 July 2017 |publisher=Southern African Development Community}}</ref>
| 2,235
| 869,595
| $1.31
| $1,371.02
| align="left" |The Union of Comoros was admitted into SADC at the 37th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Pretoria, South Africa in 2017, bringing the total number of Member States to 16.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tore |first=Ozgur |date=28 August 2017 |title=Comoros joins Southern African Development Community – SADC |url=https://ftnnews.com/other-news/32894-comoros-joins-southern-african-development-community-sadc.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230221253/https://ftnnews.com/other-news/32894-comoros-joins-southern-african-development-community-sadc.html |archive-date=30 December 2022 |access-date=31 January 2018 |website=ftnnews.com |publisher=FTN News}}</ref>
|-
| align="left" |{{Flag|DR Congo}}
| 2,344,858
| 89,561,404
| $64.79
| $669.36
| align="left" |Since 8 September 1997
|-
| align="left" |{{SWZ}}
| 17,363
| 1,160,164
| $4.65
| $4,035.54
| align="left" |
|-
| align="left" |{{LSO}}
| 30,355
| 2,142,252
| $2.56
| $1,212.57
| align="left" |
|-
| align="left" |{{MDG}}
| 587,295
| 27,691,019
| $14.61
| $504.31
| align="left" |Admitted on 18 August 2005. Membership reinstated on 30 January 2014<ref>{{Cite web |title=SADC Lifts Madagascar Suspension |url=http://www.sadc.int/news-events/news/sadc-lifts-madagascar-suspension/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009114507/https://www.sadc.int/news-events/news/sadc-lifts-madagascar-suspension/ |archive-date=9 October 2019 |access-date=30 January 2014 |publisher=SADC}}</ref> after an [[2009 Malagasy political crisis|imposed suspension in 2009]]
|-
| align="left" |{{MWI}}
| 118,484
| 19,129,955
| $12.04
| $545.06
| align="left" |
|-
| align="left" |{{MUS}}
| 1,969
| 1,265,740
| $11.26
| $8,892.11
| align="left" |Since 28 August 1995
|-
| align="left" |{{MOZ}}
| 801,590
| 31,255,435
| $18.09
| $546.71
| align="left" |
|-
| align="left" |{{NAM}}
| 824,268
| 2,540,916
| $13.01
| $5,016.17
| align="left" |Since 21 March 1990 (since independence)
|-
| align="left" |{{SYC}}
| 456
| 98,462
| $1.75
| $17,693.00
| align="left" |Also previously a member of SADC from 8 September 1997 until 1 July 2004 then joined again in 2008.
|-
| align="left" |{{ZAF}}
| 1,221,037
| 59,308,690
| $426.17
| $6,979.44
| align="left" |Since 30 August 1994
|-
| align="left" |{{TZA}}
| 947,303
| 59,734,213
| $77.51
| $1,260.06
| align="left" |
|-
| align="left" |{{ZMB}}
| 752,612
| 18,383,956
| $26.66
| $1,330.37
| align="left" |
|-
| align="left" |{{ZWE}}
| 390,757
| 14,862,927
| $36.38
| $2,300.56
| align="left" |
|}

=== Future member states ===
[[Burundi]] has requested to join.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nakale |first=Albertina |date=22 August 2017 |title=Southern Africa: Comoros Admitted into SADC |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201708220731.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901071242/http://allafrica.com/stories/201708220731.html |archive-date=1 September 2017 |access-date=31 August 2017}}</ref>

== Protocols ==
SADC has 27 legally binding protocols dealing with issues such as Defence, Development, Illicit Drug Trade, Free Trade and Movement of People.<ref>[http://www.sadc.int/about-sadc/overview/sa-protocols/ Southern African Development Community :: SADC Protocols] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180531002132/http://www.sadc.int/about-sadc/overview/sa-protocols |date=31 May 2018 }}. Sadc.int. Retrieved 9 August 2013.</ref>

* [http://www.sadc.int/documents-publications/show/Protocol_on_Energy1996.pdf Protocol on Energy (1996)] – Intended to promote harmonious development of national energy policies. These development strategies set out tangible objectives for SADC and its Member States for infrastructure development in energy and its subsectors of woodfuel, petroleum and natural gas, electricity, coal, renewable energy, and energy efficiency and conservation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=South African Development Community |url=http://www.sadc.int/themes/infrastructure/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403205814/https://www.sadc.int/themes/infrastructure/en/ |archive-date=3 April 2022 |access-date=3 November 2014 |website=sadc.int}}</ref>
* Protocol on Gender and Development – Member states are urged to accelerate implementation efforts towards the achievements of concrete and transformative changes in the lives of women and girls in the region. H.E. President Mutharika also expressed concern on the escalating incidents of gender based violence in the region, especially those perpetrated against women and girls, and used this occasion to sign a commitment to end child marriages, as part of the AU campaign to end Child Marriages in Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Southern African Development Community |url=http://www.sadc.int/news-events/news/sadc-gender-womens-affairs-ministers-meet/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620140051/https://www.sadc.int/news-events/news/sadc-gender-womens-affairs-ministers-meet/ |archive-date=20 June 2022 |access-date=3 November 2014 |website=sadc.int}}</ref>
* Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation (2001) – Intended to foster regional security and defence cooperation, promote peace, political stability and conflict-management. The protocol initiated also an institutional reform of the SADC's Organ for Politics, Defence and Security (OPDS).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johannes |first=Muntschick |title=The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU) : Regionalism and External Influence |date=9 October 2017 |isbn=9783319453309 |location=Cham, Switzerland |pages=187–228 |oclc=1005921955}}</ref>

== SADC FTA ==
The SADC [[Free Trade Area]] was established in August 2008, after the implementation of the SADC Protocol on Trade in 2000 laid the foundation for its formation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free Trade Area |url=http://www.sadc.int/about-sadc/integration-milestones/free-trade-area/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403233422/https://www.sadc.int/about-sadc/integration-milestones/free-trade-area/ |archive-date=3 April 2022 |access-date=14 March 2014 |website=Southern African Development Community}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |year=1996 |title=Southern African Development Community Protocol on Trade |url=http://www.sadc.int/documents-publications/show/Protocol_on_Trade1996.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630170351/https://www.sadc.int/documents-publications/show/Protocol_on_Trade1996.pdf |archive-date=30 June 2022 |access-date=14 March 2015 |website=Southern African Development Community}}</ref> Its original members were [[Botswana]], [[Lesotho]], [[Madagascar]], [[Mauritius]], [[Mozambique]], [[Namibia]], [[South Africa]], [[Eswatini]], [[Tanzania]], [[Zambia]] and [[Zimbabwe]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mbola |first=Bathandwa |date=18 August 2008 |title=SADC launches free trade area |url=http://www.southafrica.info/africa/sadc-fta.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115732/http://www.southafrica.info/africa/sadc-fta.htm |archive-date=24 September 2015 |access-date=14 March 2015 |website=Southafrica.info – Brand South Africa portal website}}</ref> with [[Malawi]] and [[Seychelles]] joining later. Of the 15 SADC member states, only [[Angola]] and the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]] are not yet participating, however Angolan trade minister Joffre Van-Dúnen Júnior said in Luanda that his ministry is working to create conditions for Angola's accession to the SADC Free Trade Area in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Angola joins SADC free trade zone from August 2019 |url=https://macauhub.com.mo/2019/01/02/pt-angola-adere-a-zona-de-comercio-livre-sadc-a-partir-de-agosto-de-2019/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230221255/https://macauhub.com.mo/2019/01/02/pt-angola-adere-a-zona-de-comercio-livre-sadc-a-partir-de-agosto-de-2019/ |archive-date=30 December 2022 |access-date=9 February 2019 |website=macuhub}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Free Trade Area |url=http://www.sadc.int/about-sadc/integration-milestones/free-trade-area/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403233422/https://www.sadc.int/about-sadc/integration-milestones/free-trade-area/ |archive-date=3 April 2022 |access-date=16 October 2017 |website=Southern African Development Community}}</ref> The SADC-Customs Union, scheduled to be established by 2010 according to SADC's Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), is unlikely to become reality in the near future. This is because the European Union's Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) with their inherent extra-regional freetrade regimes provided for several SADC members more benefits than deeper regional market integration within the framework of a SADC-Customs Union. Since these SADC countries formed four different groupings to negotiate and implement different Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union, the chance to establish a SADC-wide [[common external tariff]] as prerequisite for a regional customs union is missed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johannes |first=Muntschick |title=The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU) : Regionalism and External Influence |date=9 October 2017 |isbn=9783319453309 |location=Cham, Switzerland |pages=153–186 |oclc=1005921955}}</ref>

On Wednesday 22 October 2008, SADC joined with the [[Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa]] and the [[East African Community]] to form the [[African Free Trade Zone]], including all members of each of the organizations. The leaders of the three trading blocs agreed to create a single free trade zone, the African Free Trade Zone, consisting of 26 countries with a GDP of an estimated $624bn (£382.9bn). It is hoped the African Free Trade Zone agreement would ease access to markets within the zone and end problems arising from the fact that several of the member countries belong to multiple groups.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 October 2008 |title=African free trade zone is agreed |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7684903.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230221246/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7684903.stm |archive-date=30 December 2022 |access-date=12 August 2013}}</ref>

The African Free Trade Zone effective has been more than a hundred years in the making—a trade zone spanning the whole African continent from [[Cape to Cairo Red Line|Cape to Cairo]] and envisioned by [[Cecil Rhodes]] and other British imperialists in the 1890s. The only difference is that the African Free Trade Zone is the creation of independent African Countries. The idea is a free trade zone spanning the whole continent from the Cape to Cairo ([[Cape Town]] in the [[Republic of South Africa]] to [[Cairo]] in [[Egypt]]).

In addition to eliminating duplicative membership and the problem member states also participating in other regional economic cooperation schemes and regional political and security cooperation schemes that may compete with or undermine each other, the African Free Trade Zone further aims to strengthen the bloc's bargaining power when negotiating international deals.

Pursuant to the SADC goal of more integration, Botswana and Namibia signed an agreement in February 2023 allowing citizens to travel between the two countries using only identity cards, with passports no longer being needed.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Silence Mugadzaweta |date=20 February 2023 |title=Botswana, Namibia to abolish passports: Citizens of the two countries will now use identity cards |url=https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200007748/botswana-namibia-to-abolish-passports-citizens-of-the-two-countries-will-now-use-identity-cards |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613211730/https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200007748/botswana-namibia-to-abolish-passports-citizens-of-the-two-countries-will-now-use-identity-cards |archive-date=13 June 2023 |access-date=8 June 2023 |work=NewsDay Zimbabwe}}</ref> Botswana has held talks with Zimbabwe to achieve a similar deal, and expects to open talks with Zambia.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mqondisi Dube |date=13 March 2023 |title=Botswana, Zimbabwe to Discuss Eliminating Use of Passports |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/botswana-zimbabwe-to-discuss-eliminating-use-of-passports-/7002523.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230613211727/https://www.voanews.com/a/botswana-zimbabwe-to-discuss-eliminating-use-of-passports-/7002523.html |archive-date=13 June 2023 |access-date=8 June 2023 |work=VOA}}</ref>

== Challenges facing member countries ==
SADC countries face many social, development, economic, trade, education, health, diplomatic, defence, security and political challenges. Some of these challenges cannot be tackled effectively by individual members. Cattle diseases and organised-crime gangs know no boundaries. War in one country can suck in its neighbours and damage their economies. The sustainable development that trade could bring is threatened by the existence of different product standards and tariff regimes, weak customs infrastructure and bad roads. The socio-economic and political and security cooperation aims of SADC are equally wide-ranging, and intended to address the various common challenges.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deep integration |url=http://www.inwent.org/ez/articles/167262/index.en.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301074450/http://www.inwent.org/ez/articles/167262/index.en.shtml |archive-date=1 March 2010 |website=inwent.org}}</ref>

One significant challenge is that member states also participate in other regional economic cooperation schemes and regional political and security cooperation schemes that may compete with or undermine SADC's aims. For example, South Africa and Botswana both belong to the [[Southern Africa Customs Union]], Zambia is a part of the [[Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa]], and Tanzania is a member of the [[East African Community]].

According to Human Rights Watch, {{qi|SADC has been criticized for its laxity on making human rights compliance within its member states a priority}}.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 August 2014 |title=SADC: Address Members' Rights Issues |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/13/sadc-address-members-rights-issues |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326221828/https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/13/sadc-address-members-rights-issues |archive-date=26 March 2023 |access-date=1 January 2016}}</ref>

== Structure and decision-making procedures ==
The organization has six principal bodies:

* The Summit, comprising [[head of state|heads of state]] or [[Head of government|heads of government]]
* Organ on Politics, Defense and Security
* Council of Ministers
* [[SADC Tribunal]]
* SADC National Committees (SNCs)
* [[wikt:secretariat|Secretariat]]

Except for the Tribunal (based in [[Windhoek]], Namibia), SNCs and Secretariat, decision-making is by consensus.

== Leaders ==
=== Chairmen ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country !! Chairperson !! Term
|-
| {{ZAM}} || [[Levy Mwanawasa]] || 2007–2008
|-
| {{ZAF}} || [[Kgalema Motlanthe]] || 2008–2009
|-
| {{COD}} || [[Joseph Kabila]] || 2009–2010
|-
| {{NAM}} || [[Hifikepunye Pohamba]] || 2010–2011
|-
| {{ANG}} || [[José Eduardo dos Santos]] || 2011–2012
|-
| {{MOZ}} || [[Armando Guebuza]] || 2012–2013
|-
| {{MWI}} || [[Joyce Banda]]<br />[[Peter Mutharika]] || 2013–31 May 2014<br />31 May–17 August 2014
|-
| {{ZIM}} || [[Robert Mugabe]] || 2014–17 August 2015
|-
| {{BOT}} || [[Ian Khama]] || 17 August 2015 – 2016
|-
| {{SWZ}}|| [[King Mswati III]]|| 2016–2017
|-
| {{ZAF}}|| [[Jacob Zuma]]<br />[[Cyril Ramaphosa]] || 2017–2018
|-
| {{NAM}} || [[Hage Geingob]] || 17 August 2018 – 17 August 2019
|-
| {{TZA}} || [[John Magufuli]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tanzanian president assumes SADC chair, calls for vigorous industrialization drive |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/17/c_138316835.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817162319/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/17/c_138316835.htm |archive-date=17 August 2019 |access-date=17 August 2019 |agency=Xinhua News Agency}}</ref> || 17 August 2019 – 17 August 2020
|-
| {{MOZ}} || [[Filipe Nyusi]] || 17 August 2020 – 17 August 2021
|-
| {{MWI}} || [[Lazarus Chakwera]] || 17 August 2021 – 17 August 2022
|-
| {{COD}} || [[Félix Tshisekedi]] || 17 August 2022 – 17 August 2023
|-
| {{ANG}} || [[João Lourenço]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 August 2023 |title=COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE 43rd ORDINARY SUMMIT |url=https://www.sadc.int/latest-news/communique-43rd-ordinary-summit-sadc-heads-state-and-government |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820150659/https://www.sadc.int/latest-news/communique-43rd-ordinary-summit-sadc-heads-state-and-government |archive-date=20 August 2023 |access-date=20 August 2023 |publisher=SADC}}</ref> || 17 August 2023 – 17 August 2024
|-
| {{ZIM}} || [[Emmerson Mnangagwa]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 August 2024 |title=Mnangagwa Assumes SADC Chair, Pledges Sustainable Development |url=https://newscentral.africa/mnangagwa-assumes-sadc-chair-pledges-sustainable-development/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240818024438/https://newscentral.africa/mnangagwa-assumes-sadc-chair-pledges-sustainable-development/ |archive-date=18 August 2024 |access-date=18 August 2024 |website=newscentral.africa}}</ref> || 17 August 2024 – present
|}

=== Executive Secretaries ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width: 120px;" | Country
! Image !! style="width: 120px;" |Name !! style="width: 120px;" | Term
|-
| {{NAM}}
| [[File:Kaire Mbuende 2000 (cropped).jpg |70px]]|| [[Kaire Mbuende]] || 1994–2000
|-
| {{MUS}}
| [[File:Prega Ramsamy (cropped).jpg |70px]]|| [[Prega Ramsamy]] || 2000–2001 {{small|([[Acting (law)|Acting]])}}<br />2001–2005
|-
| {{MOZ}}
| [[File:Tomaz Salomão 2013 (cropped).jpg |70px]] || [[Tomaz Salomão]] || 2005–2013
|-
| {{TZA}}
| [[File:Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax on 12 June 2023 - (01913108)01913109) (cropped).jpg |70px]] || [[Stergomena Tax]] || 2013–2021
|-
| {{BWA}}
| [[File:Elias Magosi (cropped).jpg |70px]] || [[Elias Magosi]] || 2021–present
|}

== Comparison with other regional blocs ==
{{African Economic Community}}

== See also ==
* [[Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique]] (SAMIM)
* [[Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa]] (COMESA)
* [[East African Community]] (EAC)
* [[Economic Community of Central African States]] (ECCAS)
* [[Southern African Customs Union]] (SACU)
* [[Economic Community of West African States]] (ECOWAS)
* [[List of trade blocs]]
* [[Rules of Origin]]
* [[Market access]]
* [[Free-trade area]]
* [[Tariffs]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Gabriël Oosthuizen, The Southern African Development Community: The organisation, its history, policies and prospects. Institute for Global Dialogue: Midrand, South Africa, 2006.
* [[John McCormick (Jean Monnet Chair)|John McCormick]], The European Union: Politics and Policies. Westview Press: Boulder, Colorado, 2004.
* Muntschick, Johannes, The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU). Regionalism and External Influence. Palgrave Macmillan: Cham. 2017. {{ISBN|978-3-319-45330-9}}.
*Ramsamy, Prega 2003 Global partnership for Africa. Presentation at the human rights conference on global partnerships for Africa's development, Gaborone: SADC

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Southern African Development Community}}
* {{Official website|http://www.sadc.int}}
* [http://agritrade.cta.int/Regions/ACP/Southern-Africa ''Agritrade'' website covering trade issues in southern Africa]
{{Southern African Development Community}}
{{African Trade Agreements}}{{Regional organizations}}{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Southern African Development Community| ]]
[[Category:Organisations related to Southern Africa]]
[[Category:International organizations based in Africa]]
[[Category:United Nations General Assembly observers]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1992]]
[[Category:1992 establishments in Africa]]