Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers and members of this august House, the ANC supports the adoption of this protocol simply because it realises the vision of the founding fathers of the Organisation of African Unity, OAU, who, 50 years ago, ensured that they came up with a plan to fight colonialism and remove apartheid from the African continent.
When the last outpost of colonialism was uprooted in 1994 with the creation of a free South African state, the mission of the OAU was achieved. The leadership of the organisation had to change focus from liberation to economic integration. That is why ...
... iSithwalandwe, uTata Madiba ... [... isithwalandwe, Tata Madiba ...]
... at a heads of state and government meeting in Tunis in 1995 said that Africa was entering a new era of renaissance, where economic and political integration would drive economic development of the continent.
The basis was then laid for this organisation to be changed to the African Union, AU. This was done in 2002. The AU then adopted a very bold vision, which very simply seeks to promote an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena. Everybody knows that if we stand together, we are strong, but if we are divided, we are weak.
What was very important about the AU is that it said that regional or continental integration would be based on the integration of the regional economic communities, RECs. That is why the first tripartite agreement was agreed upon, where the SADC, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, Comesa, and the East African Community, EAC, came together. This tripartite area represents more than 600 million citizens and has a combined GDP of US$1 trillion. The principle of the Tripartite Free-Trade Area is that the RECs will be the building blocks. In our case, the SADC will be our springboard in harmonising the AU programmes.
The AU decided on three pillars for harmonisation: firstly, market integration; secondly, infrastructure development; and lastly, industrial development. To strengthen these pillars, the AU decided on joint planning and implementation of infrastructure programmes, which comprise roads, rail, information and communications technology, ICT, energy, and freedom of movement of the businesspeople within the free-trade area.
The protocol we are adopting today will try to fulfil the obligation of the SADC in harmonising its policies within the AU. In this protocol, there are six priority sectors which have been identified, that is, communication, construction, energy, finance, transport and tourism. The protocol will enhance the diversification and investment in the economies of the SADC. For example, the Grand Inga Dam project will pull together the resources of the region to build the biggest hydroelectric power station in Africa, with the capacity of producing 39 000 MW, which will translate to about 250 TWh per annum. This project will connect the electricity grids of the following countries: the DRC, Namibia, Angola, Botswana and South Africa. When the project is completed in 2020, it will have the productive capacity of 1 000 TWh, which will be 20% of the energy needs of Africa at that time.
There are multinational funding institutions which have lined up to have a stake in this US$80 billion project. These funding institutions include the African Development Bank, World Bank and European Investment Bank. So, with South Africa being an advanced economy in the financial sector, such projects are going to provide a very good opportunity for our businesspeople and our companies to spread out into the continent.
With Eskom involved in the Inga Dam project, it means that it will be able to sell its services to other SADC countries and help to create a single market in the trade of electricity services. This protocol provides for Eskom to benefit from the article on national treatment which is in this protocol. National treatments provide for any company within the member states operating in another state to be treated like a company of the area that it comes from. It means that when Eskom is providing electricity to Botswana, it will be treated as if it is a Botswana company. That is the critical aspect.
What is also very important is that the member states of the SADC will grant each other most favoured nation status, which entails treatment which is not less favourable than what it accords to other suppliers of services to the member states.