The Southern African Development Community (SADC), in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), is set to host the Regional Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum from 9 to 12 September 2025 in Harare, Zimbabwe. The high-level event is expected to catalyze transformative investments in agrifood systems across Southern Africa.
The forum will bring together government officials, private investors, development partners, and policy experts to finalize four key investment cases in irrigation, mechanization, agro-processing, and regional trade. Each case will be presented with bankable business models, financial projections, and implementation frameworks aimed at attracting sustainable investment.
Beyond the core investment sessions, the event will include policy dialogues, matchmaking activities between governments and private sector investors, and national showcases through “country spotlight” presentations. These sessions will allow participating nations to highlight agribusiness priorities and promote specific projects ready for investment.
Special attention will be given to African Small Island Developing States such as Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, Madagascar, and Seychelles. These countries will present investment opportunities in fisheries, blue economy initiatives, and agroecological resilience, reflecting a broader push for inclusive regional development.
The outcomes of the forum will feed directly into the global Hand-in-Hand Forum scheduled for October in Rome. The initiative supports the joint SADC–FAO objective of building sustainable, climate-resilient, and trade-integrated food systems while aligning national priorities with regional growth.
This comes at a time of growing momentum for regional economic integration. Angola is advancing its accession to the SADC Free Trade Area, and several SADC member states recently launched a digital portal under their Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union to ease trade flows. Regional development finance institutions, including the African Development Bank, continue to back infrastructure and industrialization efforts to support agrifood value chain expansion across Southern Africa.
