A number of infrastructure projects, meant to prepare for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit in August, are behind time.

The projects involve cooperation between multiple government agencies and private contractors, many of whom face payment delays from government.

Meanwhile, the SADC preparatory team is in the country for its second assessment mission, with the first having come in February.

The team noted tremendous improvements that had been made since the conclusion of the first mission.

A member of the secretariat team said: “Let me first of all talk about the purpose of our mission. This is the second preparatory mission that the SADC Secretariat is undertaking to assess the preparedness of the host nation to host the 44th Council of Ministers and Summit of Heads of State that will take place in August 2024.

“We have already had the first preparatory mission and during this second mission we have noted a lot of improvements and good progress.

“So, we are happy with the progress that we have noted and if everything is completed in time we are confident that we are going to have a very good Council and Summit of Heads of State and it will be a success,” said the SADC secretariat official.

Zwnews