23 May 2021

Botswana and China have signed an agreement on the economic and technical cooperation, under which the country will benefit about P152 million grant.

Speaking during the signing ceremony on Friday, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Ms Peggy Serame said the grant would be for projects that would be agreed upon by the two governments

Ms Serame said the grant came at a time when the country had experienced a large negative economic shock as a result of COVID-19.

She said preliminary results showed that the domestic economy contracted by 7.9 per cent in 2020.

She further said for 2021/22, the budget deficit was estimated at P6.03 billion, which came after successive budget deficit experienced since the beginning of the National Development Plan (NDP) 11 and had resulted in the depletion of the Government Investment Account.

“This support has, therefore, come at an opportune time when the country requires resources more than ever,” she said.

Ms Serame said the COVID-19 pandemic had, however, afforded the country the need to speed up its economic diversification drive.

She said the country had an ambitious economic and transformational plan contained in the mid-term review of NDP 11 and the Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan.

“We are, therefore, grateful that this support will assist in driving some of the initiatives as contained in the country’s development plan,” she said.

Ms Serame said the relationship between the two countries spanned a number of decades and the agreement would help to nurture it.

China’s ambassador to Botswana, Mr Wang Xuefeng said the two countries had a history of interaction and fruitful friendship.

He said the signing of the agreement on economic and technical cooperation opened a new chapter of fostering the relations.

Ambassador Wang said the two countries’ top priority was to defeat COVID -19 and save lives, adding that China had recently donated a vaccine to Botswana.

He highlighted that the pandemic had brought serious challenges to the country’s development agenda and added that the grant would help in the economic recovery process.

The ambassador said he was hopeful that the grant would avail more opportunities for the youth and offer young people job opportunities as well as attract international tourists back into the country.

He stated that China was resolute in helping African countries on their development path and maintenance of peace. Ends