President Emmerson Mnangagwa is in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for the 42nd Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit.
Mnangagwa arrived in Kinshasa late Tuesday afternoon and was received by senior DRC government officials and Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the country, Johannes Tomana.
The summit is running under the theme “Promoting industrialisation through, agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, and regional value chains for inclusive and resilient economic growth.”
It is also expected to deal with cases of conflict in countries like DRC and Mozambique and also map a way forward post the COVID-19 pandemic regional developmental programmes.
The summit is made up of all Heads of State or Government of SADC member states and is managed on a troika system.
The troika comprises the current SADC summit chairperson, the incoming chairperson (the deputy at the time), and the immediate past chairperson.
At the summit, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi will become the SADC chair, taking over from Malawian President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera for a period of one year.
Namibian President Hage Geingob takes over the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation (OPDSC) chairmanship from President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa.
OPDSC is also managed on a troika basis and is responsible for promoting peace and security in the SADC region.
The SADC Summit Troika and the Organ Troika are separate bodies.