04 Sep 2019

Botswana has worked hard to maintain a stable macroeconomic environment which has contributed to government’s ability to generate resources to fund growing economic and social infrastructure ecosystem, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has said.

He was speaking yesterday at a networking session organised by Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) in partnership with Deloitte Africa on the margins of the World Economic Forum on Africa which opened in Capetown, South Africa the same day.

“We are consistently investing in new and improved core infrastructure such as power plants, fiber-optic networks, roads, airports and railways,’ he said.

He said Botswana skies were open for companies and investors wishing to externalise their investments across Africa.

Dr Masisi said Botswana was well positioned as a gateway to the rest of Africa through facilities such as the Kazungula Bridge, Dry Port in Namibia, Trans Kalahari Corridor and other developments pertaining to rail infrastructure.

He said Botswana did not restrict foreign business ownership and had a competitive corporate tax regime offering low rates of five  to 22 per cent.

Dr Masisi encouraged investors wishing to expand into Botswana to engage BITC.

President Masisi said Botswana was a global player and signatory to a number of trade agreements which ensured a seamless linkage of Botswana based producers to the global market.

The agreements include the Southern African Customs Union (SACU),  SADC, Botswana SADC/European Union Economic Partnership Customs Agreement, Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as well as the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (SADC, COMESA, EAC).

He said being the 51st signatory to African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement gave the country an opportunity to benefit from inter-regional trade within Africa which covered a market close to 1.2 billion people and a GDP of $2.5 trillion.

“I, therefore, wish to extend a personal invitation to you to consider Botswana as a base and enabler for your business expansions across Africa,” he stated.

Saying Batswana were ready to receive investors, he explained that his road map on economic development and growth of Botswana was driven by the fact that the country was currently facing challenges of inequality and youth unemployment.

To this end, he said, his key motivation remained to address the two major problems.

President Masisi said he had put together a highly talented and experienced national transformation team which would unlock the potential of the country’s human and financial resources.

He said the team had started formulating a robust national strategy that would deepen the beneficial participation of people, especially youth, in all sectors of the economy while opening Botswana’s openness to foreign investment.

“The President has set out a very strong and clear picture of where he would like to take Botswana in the next five to 10 years. For us, it has been about the impact that would be created domestically, and the ripple effect that would be created to the rest of the sub-region and the rest of the continent,” said Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Ms Bogolo Kenewendo

She said government was particularly interested in creating wealth for Batswana and those doing business in Botswana.

This, she said would expand the Pan African footprint by ensuring that Africa did business on the continent and that investors saw Botswana as a hub for business.ends