SADC Officials Grapple with Policy Trade-Offs as Polycrisis Threatens Regional Stability

HARARE – Senior Treasury and Central Bank officials from across the Southern African Development Community are confronting a daunting array of complex policy dilemmas as a polycrisis driven by adverse climate conditions, geopolitical developments, and disease outbreaks risks undermining hard-won macroeconomic gains, a top official warned on Monday.

Opening the meeting of the SADC Committee of Ministers of Finance and Investment in Harare, Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration Angele Makombo N’Tumba posed the critical questions currently facing regional policymakers, asking how they can curb persistent inflationary pressures while simultaneously stimulating weak economic growth.

Ms. N’Tumba further questioned how member states can maintain fiscal discipline while meeting the urgent needs of their populations, and how they can deepen regional integration while protecting strategic national interests, describing these as the policy realities that must be confronted decisively.

The high-level gathering of senior officials is tasked with overseeing the implementation of the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment, which seeks to foster harmonization of financial and investment policies to ensure consistency with SADC objectives and prevent undesirable adjustments from policy changes in one member state affecting others.

Central to the deliberations are the annual macroeconomic convergence performance assessments for the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Republic of Mozambique, and the Republic of Zimbabwe, which officials said will provide critical insights into the region's progress toward harmonized frameworks.

Ms. N’Tumba emphasized that establishing and sustaining macroeconomic stability remains a fundamental precondition for sustainable economic growth and for the eventual creation of a monetary union, while recognising the need to strengthen member states' capacity for effective implementation of the SADC Macroeconomic Convergence Programme.

The impact of the ongoing polycrisis is already evident across the region, with volatile commodity prices, exchange rate pressures, supply chain disruptions, and financing constraints testing the resilience of macroeconomic frameworks, while inflation pressures remain elevated in several member states even as growth momentum weakens.

Climate-related shocks pose direct threats to fiscal sustainability and employment, with droughts reducing agricultural output and floods destroying critical infrastructure, forcing policymakers to strike a delicate balance between saving lives and livelihoods, charting sustainable growth, and maintaining safety nets for the vulnerable.

Despite these challenges, Ms. N’Tumba reaffirmed that operationalising the SADC Regional Development Fund, strengthening project preparation mechanisms, and advancing the SADC-RTGS multicurrency initiative remain essential priorities for unlocking resources and deepening financial integration across the region.

She noted that strengthening the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism framework is essential for maintaining international confidence, highlighting that since June 2025, three member states – South Africa, Mozambique, and Namibia – have been removed from the FATF greylisting, a testament to sustained regulatory reforms that enhance financial stability and investment flows.