05 Nov 2015

President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama is to present the State-of-the-Nation Address on Monday (November 9) and Batswana are optimistic he will elaborate further on the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) recently announced. 

President Khama said the government would tap on the US$8.4 billion foreign reserves to undertake development projects and create employment opportunities for Batswana. 

The programme would be used in building construction, roads construction, tourism, agriculture and manufacturing. Economic analysts have been exploring ways in which the ESP could be funded. 

Econsult, an independent economic consulting firm, says the stimulus would result in a short-term boost to economic activity and job creation, particularly in construction and related activities such as building materials supplies, architects, surveyors and engineers. 

However, the firm states in the quarterly economic commentary that analysis of the likely impact of the ESP was difficult in the absence of information regarding its content, timing, magnitude and funding. 

Econsult’s Dr Keith Jeffries said he expects the President to elaborate further on ESP and its potential impact on the economy. Construction sector has huge employment opportunities as it engages unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled personnel. 

Speaking previously,  President  Khama said  there was a backlog of projects as government has not been able to build additional classrooms, accommodation for public officers and tribal administration offices. 

He also said several internal road projects would be done in a number of towns and villages.  Furthermore, President Khama said there was also a backlog in teachers’ quarters, and said more money would be given to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. 

The State-of-the-Nation-Address comes at a time when the local economy is experiencing challenges following a decline in commodity prices as a result of slowed growth in China. 

Information from Statistics Botswana indicates that real GDP went up by 2.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year, compared to 3.4 per cent realised in the same quarter of 2014. 

On a quarter to quarter basis, the economy declined by 1.8 per cent and 0.4 per cent in the first and second quarter respectively as the commodity prices market remains sluggish. 

President Khama is also expected to talk about the projects government undertakes to tackle water and electricity shortages. Ends