Democracy fosters growth, says minister

South African Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo said on Thursday the process of democratisation in his country had contributed to the transformation of economic development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). In an address to parliament, Nzo said: “South Africa, as current Chair of SADC, is committed to strengthening the organization so that it can carry out its mandate in the interest and for the benefit of the region and its people.” Nzo said SADC had achieved considerable success on the path to regional integration which was essential for the emergence of a regional market. He added member states had achieved different degrees of success in adopting market-orientated economic policies, which had contributed to long-term sustainable development and to an increase in trade amongst the SADC states. “Substantial investments have been made in the region’s telecommunications, railways, ports and road transport systems, while optimal transformation of spatial development corridors such as Maputo, Beira, Benguela, Trans-Kalahari and Tazara corridors can generate sustainable economic growth in the present underdeveloped areas of the region,” Nzo said.