11 Aug 2019

 Parliament has adopted a motion requesting government to consider designating Sowa Town as a Special Economic Zone.

Tabling the motion in Parliament, Mr Polson Majaga highlighted that Sowa was an ideal area to be transformed into a salt producing hub due to its proximity to a huge salt pan where sodium carbonate was mined. 

He said the main economic activity in Sowa was driven by Botswana Ash (Botash) which was the largest producer of natural sodium products in the region. He said it produced soda ash and salt with current production capacity of the mine estimated at around 300 000 tonnes and 650 000 tonnes of salt per annum.

“At the moment, Botash is only involved in the mining production of soda ash and salt which is then shipped off in its raw form to neighbouring countries and other markets for processing, noting that there are no beneficiation activities emanating from the mining of soda ash and its downstream products,” he said.

By allowing for beneficiation to happen in Sowa, Mr Majaga said there were a number of economic activities that could be undertaken as part of a well-thought out beneficiation programme leading to creation of jobs in the Sowa area and the country at large.

 He said the processing of soda ash locally could also generate employment from soda by-products like production of glass and related products, production of powdered paste and soap detergents and production of salt products.

 He said investors could take advantage of incentives provided through SEZs and proximity to the resource to create jobs and contribute to the country’s Gross Domestic Product if new businesses were set up in Sowa.

He added that Sowa Town could contribute to efforts aimed at diversifying the country’s economy by increasing its manufacturing base and making Botswana a key player in the manufacturing of products that were widely used across the world. 

 Mr Majaga said government played an important role in ensuring that the regulatory framework did not only encourage businesses to operate freely and competitive, but to also uphold the rule of law. 

He, however, noted that in some cases the establishment of SEZs had resulted in the exploitation of workers through low wages, lack of training as well as the use of trainees to lower wage costs. ENDS