20 Jul 2018

Botswana is looking to leverage on regional initiatives to boost the domestic potential of trade through information communication technology in line with the country’s Digital Transformation Strategy.

The Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Ms Peggy Serame, said this after participating in a World Economic Forum (WEF) Sustainable Development Impact Summit 2020 virtual meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN general assembly, brought together stakeholders from government, business, civil society, organisations as well as industry experts.

Minister Serame, who connected virtually from Gaborone, said the country’s participation in the WEF platform was part of the efforts and desire to boost trade through digital means.

“As Botswana, we are interested in being part of an African region that would fully participate in order for our continent to catch up with the more developed regions. This year we adopted the Digital Transformation Strategy and through this meeting, we managed to have fruitful engagement with those from other regions in order to learn from their experience,” she stated.

With the WEF having piloted regional digital initiatives in other regions of the world, Ms Serame impressed on the need for Africa to also be assisted likewise

She said the session titled: Accelerating Digital Investment and Trade, discussed means on how to mobilise and fast track investment in the area of the digital space, and explored how information communication technology could enable trade.

“One of the major takeaways is that we are all in agreement as to what is required for us to emerge from the economic challenges we have faced this year including the WEF Great Reset initiative to address the disruptions caused by COVID-19,” she said.

She further noted that the WEF had piloted regional digital programmes in other regions, and pushed for Africa’s involvement to complete the ecosystem.

Ms Serame added that such digital initiatives consider if a region and its states have the right digital infrastructure to trade and be attractive to investors and if the labour force has the requisite skills necessary as well as cybersecurity measures.

She further said with Botswana having participated at the annual WEF meeting early in the year in Davos, Switzerland, the intention was to use the platform to further increase the country’s global visibility and international awareness about investment opportunities in the country, as well as to learn from the experience of others. Ends