The UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Subregional Office for Southern Africa (SRO-SA), has called on Southern African countries to accelerate regional integration, strengthen economic resilience and implement coordinated policy responses to mitigate the growing impacts of the ongoing Middle East crisis.
The call was made during a High-Level Regional Dialogue on “Implications of the Middle East Crisis on Southern Africa: Assessing Impacts, Ongoing Mitigation Measures and Building Regional Resilience,” which brought together senior government officials, representatives of regional economic communities, United Nations Resident Coordinators, development partners, private sector leaders, civil society organisations, and policy experts.
Opening the dialogue, Eunice G. Kamwendo, Director of ECA’s Subregional Office for Southern Africa, warned that the crisis represents another major external shock following the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine conflict, threatening to reverse the region’s hard-won macroeconomic gains.
