01 Nov 2020

The relationship between Botswana and Nigeria has become much stronger and mutually beneficial over the years, says Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, Dr Lemogang Kwape.

Bidding farewell to the outgoing High Commissioner of Nigeria to Botswana, Mr Umar Salisu at a luncheon held in his honour recently, Dr Kwape said during the former’s tenure, the two countries  witnessed extraordinary surge of activities that led to increased cooperation between the two.

Dr Kwape mentioned that through Mr Salisu’s work in Botswana, the two African states had managed to convene the Joint Permanent Commission for Corporation (JPCC) in 2018, just a year after his arrival, bringing to an end a seven-year-spell of non-convergence.

Although the two nations could not hold JPCC this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr Kwape said such a meeting would be convened once the situation allowed to further deepen strategic partnership and cooperation in all aspects of human development.

Through the JPCC, Dr Kwape noted that the two African states had agreed to conclude several Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), some of which he stated were at various stages of processing.

Cooperation between Botswana and Nigeria is in sectors such as trade, arts and culture, tourism, sports development, education, youth development, among others.

Dr Kwape said the cooperation between the two countries had also been strengthened by many exchange visits, both at high level and official as well as private levels.

He said all achievements made during Mr Salisu’s tenure were realised because of his valuable tenacity and coordination, which he noted shall remain a source of inspiration to Batswana.

He said Mr Salisu’s work in Botswana was also characterised by his attempts to bridge the gaps that existed in the relationship at grassroots level; as he engaged not only with government, but also with the civil society.

For his part, Mr Salisu said the pleasant, warm and peaceful disposition of the people of Batswana improved the already robust and strategic bilateral relations between the two countries.

He also reiterated that the two countries had built stronger and strategic cooperation in many areas since the establishment of their bilateral relations.  

During his call of duty in Botswana, Mr Salisu had explored the abundant economic and investment opportunities in both countries, especially in the areas of tourism, education and cultural cooperation, creative industry, oil and gas as well as manufacturing industry.

He thus expressed hope that although all that was targeted by the cooperating partners was not achieved during his tenure here in Botswana, platforms and mechanisms remained in place to reach such target.

Furthermore, he encouraged Botswana government to introduce more positive reforms with a view to attracting more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the economy.

He also applauded Botswana for creating an enabling and stable environment for foreign businesses to grow, adding that some opportunities given to Nigerian nationals had contributed to the country’s FDI and helped diversify the economy. ENDS