Southern African Development Community (SADC)

The Southern African Development  Community (SADC) has been in existence since 1980, when it was formed as a  loose alliance of nine majority-ruled States in Southern Africa known as the Southern  African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), with the main aim of  coordinating development projects in order to lessen economic dependence on the  then apartheid South Africa. The founding Member States are: Angola, Botswana,  Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and  Zimbabwe.

SADC Headquaters In Gaborone,Botswana

SADCC was formed in Lusaka, Zambia  on April 1, 1980, following the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration - Southern  Africa: Towards Economic Liberation.

The transformation of the  organization from a Coordinating Conference into a Development Community (SADC)  took place on August 17, 1992 in Windhoek, Namibia when the Declaration and  Treaty was signed at the Summit of Heads of State and Government thereby giving  the organization a legal character.

The Member States are Angola,  Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi,  Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland,  United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.SADC headquarters are located in  Gaborone, Botswana.