President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to attend the seventh annual Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Summit of Heads of State and Government at Gaborone in Botswana on Thursday

On Thursday in Gaborone, Botswana, President Cyril Ramaphosa is anticipated to attend the seventh annual Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Summit of Heads of State and Government.

Heads of State and Government as well as delegates from SACU Member States, including Botswana, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Kingdom of Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa, will attend the summit, according to the Presidency.

The Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel, as well as the Deputy Ministers of Finance David Masondo and Trade and Industry Fikile Majola, will accompany President Ramaphosa, the Presidency announced in a statement.

In this year’s summit, “progress made on the implementation of the refocused Work Programme” will be taken into consideration.

This program’s top priorities are as follows:

industrialization based on the creation of regional value chains, luring in investment, and promoting exports;

Mechanism for Regional Financing;

Logistics, trade facilitation, and

African Continental Free Trade Area implementation (AfCFTA).

The SACU Strategic Plan, which was approved by the Council of Ministers on June 2, 2022, will be further considered during the summit, according to the Presidency.