The Southern African Development Community has an ambitious infrastructure development plan to deal with the region’s deficit road, rail and ports infrastructure. Pictured here is the Democratic Republic of Congo capital, Kinshasa. Credit: Einberger/argum/EED/IPS

By John Fraser and Collins Mtika
LILONGWE/JOHANNESBURG, Aug 29 2013 (IPS)

The Southern African Development Community has had to revisit its plans to raise funding for its ambitious regional development plan in the wake of a cold-shoulder from western nations and multilateral finance institutions.

“Nobody has come forward to fund any of the projects we have outlined. I have been to Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom, among other countries,” SADC deputy executive secretary for regional integration Joao Samuel Caholo told IPS.

“What is holding us back as SADC is our inability to fund our own priorities and programmes. Therefore, a sustainable funding mechanism has to be established if we are to show that we are committed and progressing.”

However, development experts have questioned whether SADC is sufficiently mature to handle ambitious projects such as the Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan (RIDMP), which is estimated to cost 500 billion dollars.

The RIDMP aims to rebuild the region’s deficit road, rail and ports infrastructure, increase its power-generation capacity, and establish communication and weather systems. Access to water, and providing the infrastructure for its distribution is also a priority.

“SADC has the potential and we are asking for the goodwill of all member states. Let them put in the seed money,” said the outgoing executive secretary.

The long-awaited SADC Development Fund will be modelled on the European Investment Bank and other regional funding ventures. SADC countries will initially contribute 1.2 billion dollars or 51 percent. The private sector and international partners will contribute the remaining 37 and 12 percent respectively.

Contributions will be over a five-year period starting in 2013 based on a country’s affordability, institutional capacity and other criteria, which Caholo was reluctant to divulge.

“If after five years a country fails to pay its contribution, its shares will be recalled and distributed among the complying states so that the 51 percent shareholding by African states is maintained,” Caholo said.

However, a member state will still be able to access funds for its development projects as outlined in the RIDMP.

Professor Eltie Links, the chairperson of Doing Business in Africa at South Africa’s University of Stellenbosch Business School, told IPS that “SADC as a regional body would have to think about the objectives and the management of a new financing arm.”

“The fact that the region comprises a number of countries with varied levels of development makes it essential that some or other form of assistance be given to economies that are suffering in the development sphere. This, however, can only be afforded if there is sufficient economic and financial muscle in the regional body,” Links said.

He said there was no doubt about the need for more infrastructure development in the region, but development aid channelled through SADC “will always be at the cost of the bilateral support given by these same [donor] countries to the region’s needy countries. This aid funding pool has always been finite.”

He suggested that donors would need to be convinced that SADC is now at a stage where it can handle multi-billion dollar projects.

“SADC’s record as an institution that is well organised and governed has been questioned in the past. To the extent that these perceptions of a body with challenges in governance still persist, it will not get the type of support needed for a project financing arm.

“It will also have to demonstrate the ability to administer and manage such funding and projects; something it has not been able to prove beyond any doubt.”

This view was echoed by the chief executive officer of the Frontier Advisory consultancy, Martyn Davies, who argued that the SADC secretariat should not be the body that seeks to fund projects, and should instead focus on coordinating and bringing projects to the point of bankability.

“SADC, unfortunately, does not do enough in harmonising pursuits towards regional integration, and needs to do more of the basics toward promoting the facilitation of trade and capital flow in the region,” Davies told IPS.

“Donors regularly work with SADC, but the more important engagement should be with big business, and this is currently insufficient. There needs to be greater communication from SADC as to its role and also outreach to and engagement with business in order to better implement these goals.”

Trade consultant John Mare agreed that initially SADC should play more of a coordination role.

Mare told IPS a new funding institution was not needed as “there are already too many others – but SADC can help shape bankable projects and relate them to SADC priorities.”

He added that there was a need for better capacities inside SADC to work on such projects and, especially, a greater need for coordinating mechanisms between all stakeholders at national and regional levels.

“A key challenge is to improve SADC coordination with other regional organisations in which many SADC members are also members. It is crucially important that this happens – and the tragedy is that SADC is said to have more capacity than many other regional organisations in Africa,” Mare said.

He added that while there were many potential projects in Africa, what was missing was driving mechanisms for these projects.

Davies agreed there is no shortage of projects, but suggested “the challenge lies in fostering cooperation between the respective governments and bringing the projects to bankability.”

“I have never seen a good project that cannot get funding when politics is aligned.”

No sooner had Mariness Luhanga announced her intention to contest local elections in Mzimba district in northern Malawi, than she was summoned to appear before a village court on allegations of insulting men.

“I knew that some people in the village were not amused by my campaigns and had started to circulate stories that I was disrespectful to male candidates, that I was calling them names ,” Luhanga, who wants to stand as a People Development Movement (PDM) candidate in Chapitamuno village told IPS.

Threats

Campaigning for the local elections had taken her from door to door, village to village through the district, as well as taking advantage of gatherings at her local church or traditional festivals to present herself as a candidate.

Luhanga believes she stirred up the hornets’ nest when she described previous councillors – all men – as “brutes” and lacking in common sense for failing to bring tangible development to the area.

Luhanga started receiving anonymous SMSs warning her to withdraw from the contest. She saved one that frightened her most: “Don’t risk your life by contesting against men. You must have respect. Going ahead is at your own risk.”

She suspects the messages came from supporters of some of the 10 male contenders for a council seat. Across the country, women who stand for office face hostility, despite the country’s stated commitment to increasing female representation in decision-making posts.

Gender parity

The percentage of women in Malawi’s parliament rose from 15 to 22 percent in the May 2009 elections, but Pan African Civic Education Network Executive Director Steve Duwa says there’s more work to be done.

“It’s an attitude problem, regarding women as inferior to men,” Duwa said. “On paper, the political situation is friendly, but in practice very few women are given the potential to pursue their dreams.”

Duwa said this may have an impact on the government’s effort to achieve 50:50 representation of women in political and decision-making bodies in line with the Southern African Development Community’s Gender Protocol.

Luhanga agrees with Duwa that it is not enough for Malawi to ratify or sign protocols without implementing them.

“Government and NGOs need to work hard to change people’s mindset on the status of women in Malawi because male politicians are violators of legislation that calls for women empowerment.”

But Eric Ning’ang’a, Principal Secretary in the ministry of Gender and Child Welfare disagrees and says the government has now taken charge of the 50:50 campaign where previously NGOs were its champions.

“Government [has a] bigger machinery capable of influencing people and we intend to take the 50:50 campaigns seriously by training women in public speaking and building their capacity.”

Pressing on

Luhanga faces a rough road. The mother of five, who relies heavily on remittances from her husband for income. Like many other men in the village, he made the long trek to South Africa in search of work eight years ago.

The first hurdle was the hearing in the village court. Since colonial times, courts – known as Phala in the local language, Tumbuka – have been convened to resolve important issues in rural areas.

The courts are presided over by the local chief, assisted by elders as the jury. The case against her turned on Luhanga failing to wear a kitenge, the wrap usually worn by a married or older woman – particularly where Luhanga has addressed a public gathering wearing a skirt that exposed part of her calves – this is considered an insult to custom and indicative of someone with loose morals, according to her accusers. In addition, she was accused of saying abusive things against men.

“In the village where most of us are born and bred, women are enjoined to respect men because men are regarded as breadwinners,” says the litigant – and one of her rivals in the election – Dokiso Chizeve. Chizeve claims that although the Ngoni culture values the role they play in society, women’s authority is largely limited to fellow women.

If found guilty, she could expect to be fined – chickens, goats, a quantity of maize, beans or groundnuts – and her campaign would likely suffer.

Luhanga counts off the arguments she made on her right hand.

“One, the fact that I wear or don’t wear a kitenge depends on the situation and that I should not be judged from that. Two, when I called people brutes, I did not mention names. And lastly I asked the court to find the people who had sent the anonymous SMSs to me and try them as well for disturbing my peace and freedom.”

Her arguments found favour with Village Head Zefa Zimba.

“We found the evidence lacking and we therefore dismissed the case,” he told IPS. “But we also reminded Luhanga of the status of women in our Ngoni culture vis-à-vis roles, mandate and authority.”

Duly reminded, Luhanga is pressing on.

“I don’t have much in terms of finances,” she said as her ox cart sets off along a country road to her next meeting, an all-female gathering, “but what I have I am grateful for.”

And if she proves as determined and forceful in office as she has been so far in her campaign, the entire district may have reason to be grateful for her.