03 Feb 2021

In efforts to position sports as one of the drivers of economic growth and diversification, Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC) is exploring the possibility of hosting the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Answering a question in Virtual Parliament on Monday MYSC Minister Tumiso Rakgare has said if successful Botswana would also have the rights to host some preceding events in preparation for the finals in 2027.

“This undertaking will require the support of parliament, particularly by availing financial resources to invest in the hosting of the event”, he added.

Mr Rakgare said MYSC had plans to position sport as one of the drivers of the economic growth and diversification through professionalising sport and sport tourism.

“Such plans are contained in the MYSC Strategy 2017 -2022 and BNSC Strategy of vision 2028”, he said.

He further noted that the ministry have prioritised, among other, commercialisation of sport, hosting of international sporting events and development of world class athletes and technical officials.

Mr Rakgare noted that the plans were already being implemented as demonstrated by the number of athletes who earned a living from sport and the major sporting events hosted in the country.

He further noted that there were over 400 professional athletes who were based locally and regionally.

The minister said football started the commercialisation several years back with the initiatives such as club licensing and registration of clubs as business entities.

“These initiatives are on-going and when fully implemented will result in total commercialization of football”, he said.

In addition Mr Rakgare said as way of enhancing the plan the ministry had commenced the process of reviewing the BNSC Act.

He further said the act is being reviewed in order to come up with a Sport Act that would address issues crucial in the development of sport and establishing sport as a sector that could meaningfully contribute to the economy of the country.

Mr Rakgare said to facilitate commercialisation of sport, the Sport Act had to make provision for establishment of independent bodies in line with international best practice.

“One such body is the National Professional Boxing Association, which is the only way to facilitate professional boxing in any country,” he added.

Mr Rakgare said implementation of the plan had resulted in the country hosting major sporting events such as the Africa Youth Olympics in 2014, the Netball Youth World Cup in 2017 and African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games in 2018.

He further said on the 27 November 2020 the country hosted the World Boxing Federation Bantamweight Title Fight , adding that the plan was to host more of such events.

Molepolole North MP Mr Oabile Ragoeng had asked if the ministry had any plans to position sport as one of the drivers of economic growth and diversification. The legislator also wanted to know when the ministry intended to roll out such plan. ENDS