The Minister for ICT, Her Royal Highness Princess Sikhanyiso, officially opened a stakeholder consultative meeting on the Roll-Out of SADC Strengthening National- Regional Linkages Programme (SNRL) in the Kingdom of Eswatini at the Royal Villas.

In its endeavor to strengthen the National System of Innovation (NIS) for sustainable socio-economic development, the Ministry of ICT has intensified its participation in regional initiatives. Consequently, Eswatini ratified the 2008 SADC Protocol on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in 2016. The Department of Research, Science, Technology and Innovation (RSTI) domiciled in the Ministry of ICT, is mandated to domesticate the SADC Protocol on STI in line with the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP).

The Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), based in Botswana is one of the SADC partners that has played a leading role in assisting the country to domesticate the Protocol.

The SADC delegation was led by Senior Programme Officer-Policy and Strategy Development Mr. Dennis Rweyemamu. He was accompanied by Mr. Robson Chakwana and Miss Patricia Mwanyisa. Mr. Sipho Vilakati was the Acting Principal Secretary of the Ministry of ICT during the occasion.