The Memorandum of Understanding includes a series of agreements, marking a milestone in relations between countries of the global south.
On February 26, Elias M. Magosi, Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and Jorge Arreaza, Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America–Peoples’ Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP), signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning cooperation between the two organizations. The agreement will benefit dozens of countries on both the African and American continents and enable progress in negotiating deals and collaborating on projects of various kinds between countries of the Global South.
According to the official SADC website, “The objectives of the Memorandum of Understanding is to provide a framework upon which the two organizations will collaborate on various programs and activities, promote close cooperation and consultation on matters of mutual interest and strengthen collaboration between the parties in the discharge of their respective mandates, promote industrialization, regional and international trade, peace and security, tourism development and contribute to the economic, social and human development of their respective Member States.”
Among the agreements are the training of young leaders, school scholarships, sports, and cultural exchanges, and collaborative programs in the areas of health and science. The agreement also aims to improve relations between the two blocs of countries on issues such as peace and security cooperation, natural resource management, tourism promotion, risk management, trade agreements, investments, and exchange of knowledge on information and technologies.
In a Facebook message, the Venezuelan Embassy in South Africa said the agreement “marks an important milestone in relations between the two regional organizations and underlines the shared commitment to fostering economic growth, peace, and integration. Both multilateral agencies share the same principles of regional economic integration and the fight against poverty and social exclusion.”
At the meeting, Arreaza said that ALABA-TCP, founded by Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro and including 10 Latin American countries, aims to improve regional integration and diminish social injustices through cultural exchange, political solidarity, economic cooperation, social welfare, and equity. In this sense, he emphasized that the agreement will enable the bloc to achieve its major objectives.
For his part, Magosi said that the 15 African countries that conform to SADC will benefit from the agreement with ALBA-TCP, which began to be worked on in 2021. According to Magosi, “the two organizations have a lot in common, such as the promotion of peace and security and the promotion of economic and regional integration, making it very beneficial to cooperate for the benefit of the two organizations and their citizens.”
