14 Feb 2021

Alliance for Progressives (AP) says Botswana economy has the potential to generate jobs and wealth, if the country’s resources and human potential are put to optimum use, Francistown South Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Wynter Mmolotsi has said.  

Making a contribution to the budget speech debate at the National Assembly, in his capacity as a parliamentary minority party representative, Mr Mmolotsi of the AP said this year’s budget did not present a long-term plan to restructure Botswana’s economy towards diversification, industrial development and wealth generation. 

Rather, what the country needed was to identify areas where the country could have a comparative advantage in the global economy, identify niche markets and create industries that could generate wealth for the country and well paying jobs for citizens. 

“We promised during our campaign that the AP in government would over a six year period, introduce large scale companies, two that could generate in the region of P10 billion per annum, and others that would target generating over P2 billion,” Mr Mmolotsi said. 

He gave the example of Temasek Holdings, a state owned company that manages an investment fund on behalf of the government of Singapore, which he said generated billions of dollars worth of revenue for that country. 

Mr Mmolotsi said, while companies such as Temasek were wholly state owned, they were run by independent board of directors, and employed the most capable people to drive job and wealth creation, whereas in Botswana, people were appointed to parastatals along party political lines, what he termed ‘factional cadre deployment.’ 

He further said the AP sought to generate funds for the economy from local and international investors, venture funds, private equity institutions and multi-lateral institutions. 

Another feasible proposal, Mr Mmolotsi said, was for Botswana to invest in being a regional transportation and logistics hub, linking Southern, Central and East Africa, and through creating the requisite infrastructure, also becoming a conferencing and exhibitions hub. 

Mr Mmolotsi said the AP proposed the creation of an economic development board whose mandate would be to restructure the Botswana economy towards sustainable diversification, and a delivery unit to be tasked with overseeing efficient project implementation and delivery. 

Articulating his disapproval at the rental hikes announced by the Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC), Mr Mmolotsi said this move, together with the increase in value added tax (VAT), electricity rates, the fuel levy and the tax on second hand imported vehicles would combine to erode the already meager incomes of average Batswana households.   

He said the BHC could find alternate means of generating funds, such as through the sale of their flats, old pool houses and the use of the tenant purchase scheme (TPS) to sell houses to tenants. 

On health issues, Mr Mmolotsi called COVID-19 a national security issue that demanded urgent attention. 

He further said that in the long term, Botswana needed a coherent Centre for Disease Control that should be resourced enough to be prepared for any pandemics that might arise. 

For his constituency, Mr Mmolotsi proposed the conversion of one junior secondary school into an integrated senior secondary school, one clinic into a 24 hours facility, the construction of a Francistown district hospital, and a body similar to Selibe Phikwe Economic Diversification Unit (SPEDU) to be created and tasked with revitalising the Francistown economy. Ends