09 Feb 2020

Member of Parliament for Gaborone North Mr Mpho Balopi has emphasised the importance of having an inclusive economy, which he said could be achieved through a knowledge-based economy.

Commenting on the budget speech delivered by Minister of Finance and Economic Development Dr Thapelo Matsheka recently, Mr Balopi said diversification of the economy needed transformation from minerals in order to achieve the knowledge-based economy aspired by Botswana.

Mr Balopi said Batswana should be empowered with ideas, knowledge and resources to improve on locally produced goods in order to attain an export status.

Further, the Gaborone North legislator noted that the public service needed to be re-skilled and re-tooled to address the current challenges and take the country forward to attain a knowledge-based economy.

In addition, Mr Balopi said Botswana should have sustainable infrastructure, adding that first there was need to identify productive and efficient areas, which could improve the country’s economy.

Proper planning is needed to build sustainable high quality infrastructure, he said. 

 About the P10 million constituency fund, he sdaid constituencies should start looking into sustainable projects that would benefit communities as a whole, rather than allocating the monies ward by ward.

Member of Parliament for Kanye South, Dr Lemogang Kwape said the creative industry had the ability to provide jobs and contribute to the economy.

Dr Kwape also indicated that decentralisation was another form of growing the economy as services would be accessible and efficient.

Dr Kwape also commended Dr Matsheka on efforts to transform the agriculture sector, saying productive and efficient change of land use could contribute to the economic growth of the country. 

He also applauded Dr Matsheka on plans to improve human capital skills and knowledge as they were critical inputs to economic growth.

For his part, Mahalapye West legislator, Mr David Tshere said Botswana was a government under review. 

He said the budget speech focused more on review and assessment, saying government was examining and looking into priorities to improve and grow the economy.

He said there were various projects that had been shelved and reviewed under NDP 11, citing  Mahalapye storm water drainage, which he said his constituents had been awaiting its review and implementation. ENDS