Towards a common future The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Infrastructure Vision 2027 was conceived at the 2007 Lusaka Summit in Lusaka, Zambia, with the objective of establishing a strategic framework to guide the development of seamless, cost-effective trans-boundary infrastructure. The SADC Infrastructure Vision 2027 is anchored on six pillars consisting of energy, transport, information and communication technologies (ICT), meteorology, trans-boundary water resources and tourism (trans-frontier conservation areas), which constitute the SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Programme. The six infrastructure pillars are established on a solid foundation of harmonised policies and regulations, capped by a joint pool of human resource capacity development and a concerted effort to engender public awareness and commitment to these goals. The competitiveness of the SADC will, to a larger extent, depend on joint action and joint pooling of available resources to achieve the comprehensive development of infrastructure as envisioned by the SADC Infrastructure Vision 2027. The SADC – Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan 4 Executive Summary The Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan (RIDMP) Study revealed that the region currently faces a number of challenges with regard to the provision of adequate regional infrastructure. The compelling indicators highlighted by the Study instil a sense of urgency for the region to expedite the implementation of strategies to bridge the identified gaps and eliminate bottlenecks to unlock the regional potential of SADC. The study prognosis is that the current population of the SADC region, which is at approximately 272 million, will grow at the rate of about 1.7% per annum to reach approximately 350 million by 2027. The situational analysis also revealed that the region is not coping with current infrastructure requirements. This, therefore, requires an innovative approach in order to respond positively to the greater challenges of a more complicated future, especially when compounded by rising competition brought about by increasing globalisation.