The rules of the global order are about to be re-written, and it begs the question if Africa will be left out again, warns Carlos Lopes, Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa.

He posed the incisive query during a special retreat of the SADC foreign ministers at held (22 – 24 May) at the Kruger National Park.

The only question, Lopes, who is the former chief of the UNECA, said, is whether Africa will be one of the authors of the new global pact.

The meeting follows a resolution taken at the SADC Council of Ministers gathering in Pretoria in March, where it was agreed that Foreign Ministers would go on retreat to reflect on the prevailing geopolitical environment and its impact on the region.

The SADC Executive Secretary, Elias Magosi reminded ministers that despite all the turbulence the region faces, SADC remains one of the most strategically endowed regions in the world — possessing vast reserves of oil and gas, abundant renewable energy resources, critical minerals central to the global energy transition, extensive agricultural potential, and strategic transport corridors linking regional and global markets.

Few regions on earth, he noted, command that combination.

The challenge is not endowment, he said, it is what the region chooses to do with it.

The SADC foreign ministers agreed to craft a unified, proactive response to global geopolitical shifts, trade vulnerabilities (such as US trade policy), and regional instability.

They also agreed to formulate strategies to insulate their economies, boost intra-regional value chains, enhance food security amid drought, and fast-track regional integration.