20 Nov 2018

Minister of Transport and Communications Mr Kitso Mokaila has implored Africa to keep pace with innovations.

“Today’s clients are looking for real time responses in issues of geographic information for socio-economic development and it is upon countries to act accordingly,” he told the 11th conference of ministers of the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development.

Mr Mokaila, who was speaking on behalf of the vice president, urged member countries to work at fostering synergies to help reduce the cost of geographical information acquisition, encourage and enforce data sharing standards and policies especially in countries which shared boundaries.

“The world we live in today is experiencing massive transformation at a very choking pace and Africa must keep pace with these innovations,” he said.

Mr Mokaila noted that most member states were undergoing major land reforms to address socio-economic challenges as the growing demand for land called for pragmatism and prudency in its administration to ensure sustainability.

He said there was no doubt that advances in ICT in driving innovation and the creation of land information systems had resulted in the demand for better data management and access to quality drove towards sustainable socio-economic development.

Mr Mokaila pointed out that President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi had declared the management and use of land paramount in determining the economic fortunes of the country. He said the leadership of Botswana was committed to assist and work with the centre to facilitate adaptation to the global changes.

Mr Mokaila said while technological advances had come to help in solving many problems, there were still a number of challenges to deal with such as climate change, population growth food security, environmental sustainability and political instability.

He urged member countries to always find the best ways through which the global challenges could be addressed.

“We have a duty as the geo-information community to live up to the aspirations of the international organisations which guide our efforts, whose aim is to address global challenges like the UN-Habitat and the African Land Advisory Group as these organisations seek to assist our governments in unlocking the potential of land for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063,” he said.

In his welcome remarks,  Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services Mr Kefentse Mzwinila said the core mandate of the centre was to promote sustainable development in member states through the generation and application of geographic information to facilitate socio-economic development.

Still at the conference, Botswana took over the chairmanship of the centre from Rwanda which has led it since 2016.

Accepting the position, Mr Mzwinila thanked the countries for showing trust and confidence in Botswana.

He assured the member states that Botswana would provide leadership and ensure the centre’s growth in leaps and bounds.

Mr Mzwinila reaffirmed Botswana’s commitment to ensuring the mandate of the centre was achieved and he thanked Rwanda for the leadership in the past two years.

He expressed optimism that good working relationship with member countries would prevail.

The centre is a non-profit making intergovernmental organisation with 20 members including Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, eSwatini, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. ENDS