Namibia has solicited support from Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states for its candidate contending for the position of president of the Pan-African University, to be held during the 39th African Union executive council meeting in October 2021.
A media statement availed by the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation on Tuesday said Namibia made this request during the 41st SADC Summit taking place in Lilongwe, Malawi, on Tuesday, preceded by the SADC council of ministers meeting.
According to the statement, the council urged SADC member states to support Namibia’s candidate, Prof Kenneth Matengu, the vice-chancellor of the University of Namibia.
The summit is held under the theme ‘Bolstering productive capacities in the face of COVID-19 Pandemic for inclusive, sustainable, economic and industrial transformation’ and will conclude on Wednesday.
The statement further said, during the summit, Namibia also presented its offer to host the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, East African Community, and SADC Tripartite Corridor Trip Monitoring System (CTMS) under the custodianship of the Ministry of Works and Transport.
CTMS is a system that facilitates a regulatory framework to ensure that cross-border transport and transit is performed by healthy drivers that are constantly tracked and monitored to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Pilot countries in the CTMS are Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and by the end of the year, this system is expected to be fully operational in the entire SADC region.
“With regard to the implementation of the SADC industrialisation strategy considered by the council, Namibia ratified the SADC protocol on industry on 24 February 2021 and officially deposited the instrument of ratification with the SADC secretariat on 13 August 2021,” the statement read.
Vice President Nangolo Mbumba is leading the Namibian delegation through the two-day summit, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and other government officials including Ambassador of Namibia to Botswana, Asser Kapere.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
