Baku: The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) held its 9th Summit in Cape Town on Friday, concluding with the establishment of a N.dollars 5 billion investment fund to enhance regional resilience and economic integration. Under the leadership of South African President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, Heads of State from Botswana (Advocate Duma Boko), Eswatini (King Mswati III), Lesotho (Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane), and Namibia (Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah) convened to strengthen the bloc amid a challenging global economic environment.According to Namibia Press Agency, a communiqué released on Saturday outlined the summit's discussions on global developments affecting SACU, progress on the reimagined SACU, and the implementation of the SACU Strategic Plan (2022-2027). The summit's highlight was the approval of a SACU Regional Innovative Funding Mechanism, a 'Fund of Funds' with N.dollars 5 billion allocated for deployment in the 2027/28 and 2028/29 financial years. This capital, drawn from the Common Revenue Pool, aim s to stimulate development projects across member states.The communiqué stated, 'This initiative marks a strategic shift toward self-reliance, fostering regional growth from within the bloc rather than relying solely on external partners. The funding will come from the Common Revenue Pool and will be available to support development projects across all SACU Member States.' The summit directed further technical work to establish the fund's governance and management, including recapitalisation, access criteria, project profiling, a network of DFIs (development finance institutions) and the private sector, legal requirements, hosting arrangements, and opportunities for additional funding.Moreover, the summit acknowledged significant progress in implementing the SACU Strategic Plan (2022-2027), focused on six key pillars. These are industrialisation, export and investment promotion; trade facilitation and logistics; AfCFTA implementation; unified engagement with third parties; finance and resource mobilisatio n; and effectiveness of SACU institutions.The summit also commended the council for the mid-term review of the strategic plan and approved its extension to the 2028/29 financial year. It emphasised the necessity for sustained cooperation among SACU member states to address economic challenges from current global developments, including economic diversification and regional value chain development. Additionally, the country leaders welcomed the extension of AGOA to December 2026 and advocated for an extension of at least 15 years to ensure continued trade, market access, industrial base preservation, and job security.