03 Dec 2018

In order for the country to boost economic diversification and improve its competitiveness, Botswana needs to focus on niche areas of the economy where the country has comparative advantage, Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Biggie Butale has said.

Adding his voice to the State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) debate in Parliament, the Tati West Member of Parliament said there were certain areas of the economy where Botswana had a comparative advantage and these needed to be invested in so that the country could reap economic reward.

“We have an abundance of coal resources and we need to invest in developing the coal to liquid industry, which is a viable business.    

We also have an abundance of sunshine but are taking too long to develop a strong solar energy industry, another area where we have an advantage.  

There is also the industry of traditional medicine and by this I am not referring to witchcraft, but the processing of herbal products such as Aloe Vera, Mokgwapha, Sengaparile and others for commercial purposes,” Mr Butale said.

Mr Butale said diamond beneficiation was another area that needed to be boosted, and that the country needed a “painful trajectory shift” to focus on these specific areas, invest in them in order to generate jobs and increase the country’s revenue streams.

“The government could easily create an additional 5000 jobs, but these would not generate wealth for the economy.  

We need to be focused on areas that can create wealth for the country, and allow the private sector to take the lead in business.  

Some of our parastatals such as the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), Botswana Trade Commission (BOTC), Local Enterprise Agency (LEA) and the Selibe Phikwe Economic Diversification

Unit (SPEDU) perform overlapping roles and need to be consolidated into a focused, efficient unit,” Mr Butale suggested.

He further said Botswana should work on improving online communication and take a leaf out of Estonia, a European country which has a similarly small population but has managed to do well in areas such as electronic communication and eGovernment.

Mr Butale called for increased private sector participation in the economy, saying government should confine itself to a facilitative role, acting as an enabler for private enterprise to flourish.  
He said the government needed to cut on bureaucratic red tape, and instead of offering licenses for businesses to operate, the state should provide guidelines and monitor if the private sector was adhering to such.

Improving road, rail and air infrastructure could assist Botswana to position itself as a regional transport hub, something other African countries such as Rwanda are currently pursuing, Mr Butale noted.

A successful implementation of the Agro-Zambezi irrigation project could assist Botswana to boost commercial farming and engage in associated downstream activities such as food processing, he said.  

Mr Butale also called for the boosting of cultural tourism in his constituency, saying places such as the Domboshaba ruins would be of interest to tourists.

He also called for the government to make it easier for churches to access land. Ends