The SADC Council of Minister has approved the estimates of revenue and expenditure of over US$49 million for the 2008/2009 financial year.
This is compared to the US$45, 349, 000 which was allocated for the 2007/2008 financial year.
Chairperson for the SADC Council of Minister Kabinga Pande announced this at a press briefing in Lusaka today.
Mr. Pande said member states will contribute US$24, 770, 000 while international cooperating partners will contribute US$24, 434, 000 and US$680,000 will be generated from grants.
Mr. Pande, who is also Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister, explained that the slight increase in the budget emanates from the increased activities in the process of regional economic integration activities.
He further revealed that the Council also looked at previous decisions such as the SADC international conference on poverty and development scheduled for mid March this year.
Mr. Pande said the Council also looked at the report on the SADC/EU economic partnership agreement processes and general other social reports.
Under the report, the SADC Council of Ministers Chairperson revealed that long-term projects would be implemented between 2008 and 2025 amounting to power generation of 44,000 megawatts at the cost of US$4.5 billion.
Mr. Pande said the SADC is committed to addressing the power shortages in the region by rehabilitating existing generating units in Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
And on the upcoming elections in the SADC region, Mr. Pande SADC stands with one resolve to ensure that all the electoral processes take place within the auspices of SADC guidelines of democratic, sustained peace, stability and security.
