27 Jun 2019

The signing yesterday of the General Framework Agreement (GFA) for the partnership between Botswana and Rwanda signals the beginning of entrenchment of a solid working relationship between the two countries.

This was said by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi during a tête-à-tête with his Rwanda counterpart Mr Paul Kagame at Office of the President.

It was followed by a meeting between members of the two countries’ cabinets leading to the signing of the agreement.

Welcoming Mr Kagame on his first ever visit to Botswana, President Masisi said the two countries had many positive attributes they could leverage on to strengthen each other’s economic and political standing.

“The signing of the GFA is the first step towards greater cooperation and a future working relationship that could include the establishment of a Joint Permanent Commission between our countries.

“There is a good rapport between our nations, and now we can forge a strategic partnership which will be beneficial to both our countries and distance is not a barrier to such, “ he said.

Dr Masisi, who thanked Mr Kagame for acceding to the request to visit Botswana, the first such trip to be made by a leader of the East African Great Lakes region state, said the two countries could profit much from strengthening collaboration.

“We should look at areas where we have a comparative advantage and speedily cooperate, and have our institutions and people joining forces to pool our resources for mutual beneficiation,” the President said.

In response, President Kagame said he was grateful to be visiting Botswana, a country he expressed much admiration for and also reiterated the need for a more solid and better structured bilateral partnership.

“The relationship between our two countries is important, and we should explore areas of common interest, share experiences and build capacities.  

I thank you for the warm welcome to this beautiful country, and I wish I had more days to visit Botswana, to see more people and places, but due to other engagements it was not possible,” Mr Kagame said.

The two countries are generally regarded internationally as African success stories, albeit having traversed different historical paths. 

Botswana is Africa’s oldest multiparty democracy, having sustained pluralistic governance since attaining nominal self-government in 1965 and full independence in 1966.  

The country also recorded one of the highest economic growth rates globally in the first three decades of independence, transforming from being one of the world’s least developed states in the mid-1960s to attaining middle-income status by the mid-1990s.

Rwanda, on the other hand, recovered from the 1994 genocide, proceeding to become a post-conflict success story, with high economic growth since the year 2000, driven by sectors such as construction, services, agriculture and manufacturing.

A significant improvement in people’s livelihoods in Rwanda has been noted by studies conducted by institutions such as the Bretton Woods institutions the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Strides in political gender parity have also been made with women making up half of the country’s cabinet as well as over 60 per cent of the Rwanda parliament. ends