Development Community (SADC) region will be the focus of a high level meeting of ministers to be held in Gaborone, Botswana, on Monday. The meeting will also be attended by representatives of national energy and water regulators and utilities, research and training institutions as well as development finance institutions.

The meeting will be seeking to find ways in which the bloc can cooperate to mitigate these challenges. South Africa's energy crisis of 2015 has been an important factor in plunging the region in crisis. Countries such as Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland were heavily dependent on power imports from their larger neighbour which was unable to meet its own demands.

The drought sweeping the region has also served to exacerbate the situation as some countries such as Zambia and Zimbabwe rely heavily on hydro-electricity.