14 Apr 2019

Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) chief executive officer, Mr Keletsositse Olebile says Botswana’s comparative advantage to attract investment was equal to none.

He said this in an interview with BOPA over the weekend ahead of the historic two-day state visit to Doha by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi on April 15 to April 16 at the invitation of his counterpart, Sheik Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar.

During the visit, the heads of state will deliberate on bilateral talks geared towards deepening and expanding cooperation between the two countries in various key sectors of development such as Agriculture, trade and investment, mining, education as well as tourism.

According to Mr Olebile, Botswana’s investment and sovereign grades ratings, which made it easy for any operator from anywhere to come and raise capital for injection into their business operations remained key.

“One key differentiator is that we do not have exchange controls as a country and this helps accommodate globalised business operations for them to be able to bring in money and externalise easily as they can,” he said.

The CEO was happy with the groundwork laid by the advance team so far, particularly the message to attract Qataris to come in and do business in Botswana and the resultant positive response from their Asian counterparts.

Botswana, he stated,  for instance, had through Botswana Railways engaged meaningfully with Qatar Investment Authority, which was a sovereign wealth fund of the government of Qatar on some of the railway projects that they were currently facilitating to see if they could secure funding from them.

“The same goes for Qatar Airlines, which already has a code-share with Air Botswana and this forms the basis on which the two nations could improve and strengthen their relations,” he said.

Moreover, Mr Olebile told BOPA that Botswana Railways had even proposed to the Qataris to ultimately consider flying into Botswana.

The Botswana team has also held detailed discussions with Free Zone Authority of Qatar with a view to learning best practices from them, especially that Botswana had just started with Special Economic Zones.

Also, team Botswana had cajoled Hassad Food Company, which is responsible for the food security of Qatar. 

The company has a huge interest in agricultural projects across the globe.

Botswana Meat Commission is yet another parastatal organisation that has put forward a proposal to try and secure a market share for its beef in Qatar.

The fact that Botswana beef is organic and proceeds derived thereby have a trickle down effect on ordinary farmers, according to Mr Olebile, could proof a winning card for BMC.

Botswana Meat Commission has also shared the fact that they were undergoing privatisation with the Qataris hoping the latter could be among suitors who could show interest in the privatisation process.

Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) is an organisation established by an Act of the Parliament of Botswana to become an integrated investment and trade promotion authority with an encompassing mandate of investment promotion and attraction, export promotion and development, including the management of the national brand. ENDS