26 Feb 2020

Parliament has learnt that the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry through the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) registered Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows worth P3.2 billion, out of which P2.5 billion was generated through the financial services sector.

Assistant Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr Karabo Gare said the financial services sector was critical in making Botswana the International Financial Services (IFSC) Hub for the region.

He said the ministry espoused the principle of client confidentiality and therefore was unable to share with Parliament the name soft specific companies the invested.

However, he said 431 jobs were created out of P3.2 billion worth FDI.

Notwithstanding, he said the sectors from which the investments were made included financial services, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, hospitality and tourism.

Mr Gare was answering Gaborone Bonnington South MP, Mr Christian Greeff, who wanted to know how much of the P3.2 billion worth of FDI recently alluded to by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi in the State-Of-Nation Address was from the IFSC.

He also asked for a breakdown of the P3.2billion in terms of sectors apart from the IFSC and specific companies that invested in Botswana and jobs created per sector. Ends