As had been earlier on predicted, the COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be one of the trade-related issues to be deliberated on at the 40th Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government. At the end of this successful debut virtual 40th Summit hosted by Mozambique in Maputo, from the 13th to 17th of August 2020, recommendation by the SADC Council of Ministers on this item was adopted at the SADC apex organization level. The need for regional cooperation and coordinated response in curtailing the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic within the bloc was fully highlighted. Further to this, the overbearing need to come up with innovative mechanisms to strengthen resilience, preparedness, and responsiveness to this COVID-19 crisis and similar future disasters was underscored. From this Summit conference, some Members States (MS) did not delay in softening their lockdowns, while others made policy pronouncements inclined towards scaling down from their initial shutdown levels.
RWATIDA MAFURUTU is a holder of Master of Commerce in Trade Law & Policy (Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, RSA), Master of Philosophy in Taxation (African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria, RSA) and a Master of Science in Fiscal Studies (Graduate School of Business, National University of Science & Technology, ZW). Rwatida is a practising technical career expert of close to 3 decades of experience in the field of Customs Border Management and Administration, Excise Management and Administration and Internal Taxes. He writes in his own capacity. Views and opinions expressed in this article are non- representative of his employers or any of his affiliates.
