Southern African Development Community States Research Articles

External shocks’ effects on the co-movements of currency and stock returns in three Southern African Development Community states

External shocks’ effects on the co-movements of currency and stock returns in three Southern African Development Community states

Zimbabwe’s Foreign Policy Under Mnangagwa

Under the presidency of Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe’s foreign policy is characterized by the desire to ‘re-engage’ with the West with a view to securing the removal of sanctions and encouraging investment. In this, it has received the backing of the African Union and Southern African Development Community states. Simultaneously, the violence of the Mnangagwa regime has reinforced the reluctance of the West to remove sanctions, and Zimbabwe has even begun to test the patience of its neighbours. The government has placed renewed faith in the ‘Look East Policy’, but China is seeking to match its investments with tighter control.

Combating Human Trafficking in the Southern African Development Community: Strategies, Challenges, and Opportunities

As is the case the world over, human trafficking remains a serious issue of concern amongst the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states. At a time when most of the SADC states are confronted with slow economic growth, poverty and limited economic opportunities, several people continue to be forcibly or deceptively recruited and transported across borders for various purposes that include sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery and/or removal of organs. This is despite the fact that most SADC countries are signatories to the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons of 2000, especially Women and Children (the Palermo Protocol) which supplement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). However, SADC member states have been implementing a sundry of strategies in the form of policies, legislations, regional interventions and plans of action such as the 10 Year SADC Strategic Plan of Action on Combating Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2009-2019), in order to combat human trafficking in the region. With the use of primary and secondary data sources, this paper sought to evaluate the anti-trafficking strategies that have been implemented so far by SADC member states at national and regional level. It further identifies the challenges being encountered, as well as opportunities presented within the regional and global networks for fighting human trafficking. On the strength of the research findings, appropriate suggestions are made to enhance the success of strategies being implemented in the SADC region in particular, and other parts of Africa in general.

The evolution of regional wildlife conservation, environmental protection and anti-poaching law in the Southern African development community

Environmental laws in Africa have their roots in the political economy of colonialism. This article examines the evolution of wildlife crime and conservation institutional framework in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. SADC countries have ratified multilateral environmental agreements and embraced Transboundary Conservation Areas. However, SADC states are hesitant to ratify treaties that make inroads into their sovereignty. Classification of poaching as a transnational organised crime is essential in effectively combating this crime. Policy recommendation on the effective use of wildlife instruments is made. It is recommended that the SADC Tribunal be resuscitated with jurisdiction over transnational environmental issues.

SouthAfrica's integration efforts within theSouthernAfricanDevelopmentCommunity:Regional supremacy or coalition?

Regional integration has manifested itself to be an integral part of Africa's postcolonial economic growth blueprints. It was viewed as a mechanism for African states to enhance their development and work collectively, improve their cooperation, and enhance peace and security. Nevertheless, regional integration initiatives are often seen to succeed when spearheaded by regional hegemons. By narrowing this to southern Africa, from 1994 after the first‐ever democratic elections and after also becoming a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), South Africa was regarded as a state capable of spearheading regional integration. This was a result of its relatively robust economy and military power in comparison with other SADC states. As a result, it was poised to utilize these vast resources to the benefit of the SADC. However, over the last two and a half decades, its regional stance has often come under a lot of scrutinizing due to its ambiguous foreign policy doctrine, particularly in southern Africa. Basically, its post‐1994 foreign policy projections towards the region have often not been implemented as attested and have often lacked clear articulation. Nevertheless, this paper argues that South Africa has made positive strides in the SADC's regional integration endeavors post its democratic transition. Its vast regional investments and diplomatic and military interventions have played a crucial role in the development and security reforms in the region. Although it is portrayed as a regional hegemon, it has nevertheless used its regional standpoint to the benefit of the region and further contributed to regional integration post the apartheid era.

The Socio-Economic Impact of Controlled and Notifiable Wildlife Diseases in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) States of Africa

The African continent is endowed with abundant wildlife, which attracts a vast majority of international and national visitors and with them foreign revenue. Eco-tourism therefore remains one of the most significant contributors to the economies of many developing countries in Africa. However, these financial reserves are continuously threatened by the emergence of endemic and/or exotic diseases that compromise both the wildlife and livestock industries of such countries. Livestock farming is a way of living for many people in many African countries especially in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) states and outbreaks of viral disease, whether endemic or exotic, results in the imposition of stringent food-safety regulations by lucrative foreign markets, thus preventing the export of animals and/or animal products from these regions. This paper aims to highlight the specific social and economic consequences on both the SADC regions as well as selected developing countries in the north of Africa, that are imposed by two viral diseases, Foot-and- Mouth Disease (FMD), a devastating disease that affects the livestock industries worldwide and Avian Influenza Virus (AIV), an exotic viral disease of birds, which not only affects the poultry industries globally, but also has the potential of causing a pandemic. The SADC states can greatly enhance its chances of reducing poverty and building rural economies by addressing the strategies that deal specifically with these two wildlife diseases and in doing so, develop necessary policies that will aid in the assessment and prevention of future outbreak situations.

Transboundary Water Resource Management in Southern Africa: Meeting the Challenge of Joint Planning and Management in the Orange River Basin

The joint management of shared water resources in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is contributing to regional integration, socio-economic development, poverty alleviation and the protection of vital ecosystems. The SADC Protocol on Shared Watercourses is an instrument of international water law that entered into force in 2003. The overall objective of the Protocol is to foster closer cooperation between the SADC states for the coordinated management, protection and utilization of shared watercourses through the establishment of river basin organizations. Therefore, it is playing a pivotal role in guiding the establishment of institutional structures capable of jointly managing the scarce water resources in Southern Africa. The Orange River is one of the international watercourse systems in the SADC and of strategic importance to South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia and Botswana, making it an excellent case study in the evolution of joint river management and international water law.

Electoral systems, constitutionalism and conflict management in Southern Africa

Since the onset of the democratisation process in Southern Africa in the 1990s, democracy discourses in both academic and policy-making circles have become more robust and invigorated. Although much of the attention has been largely on elections and their value to democracy, this article attempts to broaden both the theoretical and factual terrain of this interesting epistemological exchange among intellectuals and policy makers on democratisation in Southern Africa. It does this by attempting to discover the possible linkages between elections, electoral systems, constitutionalism and conflict management and show precisely how these phenomena then either enhance or undermine democratic governance. If, indeed, the theoretical and practical interface between these phenomena adds value to the nurturing and consolidation of democratic governance, then how best should the Southern African Development Community (SADC) states make sure that there are no reversals on the democratic governance project? In a word, how do the states ensure sustainability of the process? Conversely, if in theory and practice the interface among these phenomena seems to undermine democratic governance, then a critical question becomes that of exactly how the SADC states then need to embark on some political reforms to address and redress identified policy gaps for democratic governance. This article thus argues strongly that for democratic governance and constitutionalism to be nurtured and consolidated, SADC states need to undergo deliberate electoral system reforms. Such reform process should also aim at achieving peace and stability by ensuring constructive management of both violent and non-violent conflicts. With the benefit of hindsight, it is abundantly evident that elections in the SADC region have triggered various types of conflict, thus undermining in the process constitutionalism and constitutional rule. Arguably, the electoral reform process could act as an anchor for stable constitutional governance a key for constructive management of both violent and non-violent conflicts in the SADC region.

REGIONAL FOOD SECURITY

In March 2001 the UN warned that food shortages might occur within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. It stated that bad weather and conflict could negatively affect the food supply of many SADC states. Now, in 2002, the region is indeed facing the predicted shortages. The impact may be mitigated by international and regional assistance but the underlying factors need to be remedied.

Telecommunication and information infrastructures in the Botswana and SADC development strategy

By 2016, Botswana aspires to triple its 1994 per capita income and to completely diversify its economic base. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) objectives, as spelt out in the SADC Policy document, emphasise the attainment of enhanced development and economic growth, poverty alleviation, and support of the socially disadvantaged through regional integration. Since telecommunications have long been recognised as the engine for economic growth, the aspirations of SADC and Botswana are consistent with the SADC Protocol on Transport, Communications, and Metrology, which aims at developing a reliable, efficient, vibrant, consumer‐driven telecommunications sector. We examine the focus of the World Bank and the International Telecommunications Union, in global telecommunications development. We then discuss the efforts of Botswana and other SADC states in ensuring that they take advantage of the private sector finances to build reliable, sophisticated public telecommunications networks for entry into the Global Information Infrastructure (GII).