At the just ended 2025 SADC Development Finance Institutions (DFI) CEOs Forum hosted by the Southern African Development Community – Development Finance Resource Centre (SADC-DFRC) in Gaborone, UNDP Botswana represented by Mr. Etienne de Souza (Economic Advisor) participated in the panel discussion under the theme “Bold Steps, Shared Future: Building the DFRC of Tomorrow.” The event, which is held annually brings together DFI CEOs, senior government officials, multilateral institutions, investors, and private sector leaders

The Southern African Development Community - Development Finance Resource Centre (SADC-DFRC) is a subsidiary institution of SADC established under the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment (the FIP). It is collectively ‘owned’ by the SADC Development Finance Institutions (DFI) Network, also an FIP organisation, with a current membership of forty- two (42) national DFIs.

This year’s forum unveiled a revised strategic direction focused on financial sustainability, institutional capacity building, and deeper regional cooperation. 

When discussing the evolution of UNDP economic advisory support to Governments in addressing inflation, debt distress and supply chains shocks, Mr. Etienne de Souza highlighted that the UNDP's advisory function has shifted from primarily long-term development planning to integrating crisis preparedness and response.

“We now proactively embed resilience diagnostics into our country engagements. This means helping governments use strategic foresight to navigate uncertainty and shape inclusive future-ready development, modelling inflation scenarios before they spike, assessing debt vulnerabilities early, and mapping critical supply chain dependencies in advance, especially for essential goods like food and medicine.” Etienne elaborated and went on to say that “Last year, UNDP supported Botswana’s National Planning Commission (the leadership and the planning Officers) to strengthen their capacities in using Strategic Foresight to develop the country’s 12th National Development Plan.

"We recognize these shocks are deeply intertwined, so our policy advice now focuses on systems thinking, which means finding Integrated Solutions for Interconnected Crises,” he explained. He said for example for inflation shock, the focus is to move beyond price controls and to advise on targeted social protection to shield the poor from inflation, fiscal efficiency to optimize public spending, and lastly supporting domestic production to reduce import dependence.

In the area of debt distress, he said, the shifting is from just debt management to integrated financing solutions. Etienne said this includes supporting Debt-for-Nature Swaps, strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation (DRM) to reduce borrowing needs, and advising on fiscal frameworks that create space for debt service and critical social or green investments.

In the supply chains space Etienne said, “UNDP is moving from generic trade advice to specific diversification and localisation strategies– supporting regional value chains (within the framework of the AfCFTA), digital trade platforms, and climate-resilient infrastructure for critical corridors."

For Botswana, UNDP supported the simplification of 6 trade agreements for the private sector, including the AfCFTA, SADC-EU-EPA, AGOA, SADC, SACUM-UK EPA, and SACU-EFTA.