08 May 2018

President  Mokgweetsi Masisi has joined high profile dignitaries honoured by Seychelles to plant the Coco de Mer seed at the Seychelles Botanical Gardens during a one-day official visit.

President Masisi was in Seychelles May 8 where he paid a courtesy call on President Danny Faure at the State House.

Coco de Mer, commonly known as the sea cocoanut, is one of the world’s biggest endemic plants found in Seychelles that can only be planted by high profile dignitaries and some visiting heads of state to Seychelles, says Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Mr Didier Dogley.

The minister said the plant usually takes a year to germinate, and that every year it would produce one leaf and could take up to 20 years to produce fruits. He noted that its lifespan to produce ready to use cocoa nuts could take up to 24 years.

Chief executive officer of National Botanic Gardens Foundation, Mr Raymond Brioche conducted a brief tour of the garden and presented President Masisi with a wood engraved memorabilia that symbolised his visit to the gardens.

President Masisi said the visit offered him an opportunity to introduce himself as the new President of Botswana, and that it also offered him a chance to express solidarity with the President of Seychelles, its government and the people of Botswana.

He noted that Seychelles was sea opportune and that it could be tapped into. He also said foreign policy relations and air service agreements could be reached to enhance trade relationships between the two countries.

“My courtesy has been well received. I too take back courtesies from Seychelles to Botswana,” he said, adding that it was “important to reaffirm diplomatic relations particularly the posture that we intend to take. And as a new leader, I also committed to President Faure that we will accelerate the existing bilateral relations. We will at the earliest time convenient call on our ministers to begin the process of formulation of our Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation, a means by which countries turn to accelerate their relations,” he said in an interview.

He said the culmination of the broadening and deepening of bilateral relations could result in him visiting Seychelles or vice versa.

President Masisi also noted that the two countries were members of SADC, the African Union, Commonwealth and the United Nations and that they had a lot in common.

President Masisi said part of the existing bilateral relations was in the education sector and that Botswana intended to broaden the scope of relations.

He said trade relations between the two countries would also be broadened in the areas of agriculture and engineering, and that students from Seychelles could enroll at Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST).

Mr Masisi further noted that Botswana has beef that could be exported overseas, including Seychelles, adding that President Faure had asked for an increase in beef exports.

Other issues discussed by the two heads of state include skills exchange at institutions such as Botswana Police College at Otse, Botswana University of Agriculture and the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC).

President Masisi was accompanied by Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, Mr Vincent Seretse, Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Tshekedi Khama, Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, Mr Ngaka Ngaka and basic education minister, Mr Bagalatia Arone.

President Masisi and his entourage left Seychelles for Moroni, Comoros, for another one-day official visit. ENDS