When any regional group or members consider this Q... --- ...some issues need close study. 1. What has been the experience with regional FSIs? The Swiss pursued this as part of their development aid in East and West Africa -- in both cases they were taken over by a university and the MFA in that country lost interest (one was based in Kenya and the other perhaps in Ghana). 2. Caricom has tried this with a regional center in Trinidad, again with loss of interest by neighbors -- a key barrier being cost of bringing in trainees from neighboring countries. 3. After the pandemic, focus may shift more to online learning, and this offers better scope for a regional center. That deserves serious study. 4. At SADC you may face a special challenge in terms of the role of South Africa -- it is by far the largest player (with its own fine FSI). But perhaps SADC members do not want SA to dominate a regional FSI.....Further comment welcome.

Source author: Kishan S Rana kishanrana@gmail.com