28 Jun 2018

There is great potential to increase trade and investment between Botswana and Zambia, says President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

He made the observation June 28 when officially opening the 54th Zambia International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Ndola, Zambia.

The two governments must therefore continue playing their roles in facilitating trade and investment by creating a conducive environment for the private sector to thrive, the president said.

President Masisi noted that Botswana exports to Zambia stood at about $30m in 2017 while Zambian exports to Botswana for the same period amounted to $22m.

“At the bilateral level Botswana and Zambia have signed the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement to ensure that companies are not levied twice for the same transaction. We have also signed the regional instruments, in particular the SADC Free Trade Protocol and the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) Agreement encompassing the three regional economic communities of SADC, Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC) to boost trade by creating a huge single market of about 700m people with an estimated gross domestic product of well over US$1.4trillion for our goods and services,” he said.

President Masisi said the regional instruments were directly in line with the spirit of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) adopted in January 2012 by the 18th AU summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“Our countries have in March of this year signed on to this historic trade agreement, the CFTA, which gave birth to the world’s largest free trade area since the WTO which was formed in 1995. Therefore the CFTA and the Tripartite Agreement I  refered to earlier will pave way and accelerate trade within and amongst African countries and ultimately lead to strengthened economic, social and cultural linkages among African countries,” he added.

President Masisi said Botswana and Zambia continued to improve infrastructure between the two countries to ensure smooth movement of goods and services as well as people.

He said Kazungula Bridge construction was well underway expected to be completed before the end of next year. The US$259m project includes construction of a bridge with rail linking the two countries to replace the existing ferry system.

This year’s trade fair attracted 661 exhibitors, 551 local and 110 foreign, indicating a 17 per cent increase over the previous year.

Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) sent a contingent of Botswana companies to exhibit at the fair.

President Masisi extended an invitation to the Zambia government and business community to participate in the 2018 Global Expo, a premier business exhibition and conference to be held October 30 to November 2 in Gaborone.

He was accompanied by the First Lady Neo Masisi, former president Dr Festus Mogae, Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Nonofo Molefhi, Assistant Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Frans Van Der Westhuizen and former Member of Parliament Mr Daniel Kwelagobe. ENDS