Southern African Development Community (SADC) was formed in 1992 to replace the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) and comprises 16 Member States (Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe).
According to the SADC Treaty that was signed to establish the SADC, its objectives are ‘to achieve development and economic growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration (Article 5(1) a)), to evolve common political values, systems and institution (b)), to promote and defend peace and security (c))’.
An initiative called ‘Support for the Harmonisation of the ICT Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa project (HIPSSA)’ was launched in Addis Ababa in 2008. The Project is jointly funded by the ITU and European Commission (EC) and executed by the ITU. Cybersecurity is one of the priority areas for the Project.
As its regional outcome, the SADC Model Law on Computer Crime and Cybercrime, the SADC Model Law on Data Protection, the SADC Model Law on Electronic Transactions and Electronic Commerce were discussed by multiple actors and finally adopted by the SADC Ministers in charge of ICT and telecommunications in 2012.