10 Nov 2021

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has expressed optimism that  yesterday’s Botswana/France investor roundtable discussions would result in a long term relationship and consequently much-needed foreign direct investment inflows into Botswana.

“I expect that the networking opportunities will generate the desired investment leads for Botswana to diversify her economy and create sustainable jobs,” he told the Paris meeting.

Dr Masisi said with more targeted efforts, French companies would show interest in Botswana.

“For those who are not yet ready to invest, we invite you to explore our pristine tourism resources, particularly the Okavango and Chobe National Park, which will offer you the most breath-taking scenic safari experience – comparable to none in the world,” he said 

Apprising the entrepreneurs on the ease of doing business in Botswana, Dr Masisi said the global anti-money laundering watchdog, Financial Action Task Force, removed Botswana from its grey list last month.

“The announcement has given us the much-needed investor confidence, demonstrating Botswana’s commitment to undertaking continuous business environment reforms,” he said. 

In addition, the President said the Standards and Poor credit rating agency revised its economic outlook for Botswana from negative to stable, giving further credence that the country was ready for business.

According to President Masisi, another plus for Botswana was the introduction of an E-visa system which allowed travellers from around the world to apply for visas through a digital platform, thus reducing turnaround time.

He said investors could now be granted permanent residence status even before reaching the requisite minimum five years of residence. 

Outlining  the country’s attributes, President Masisi said its economic landscape was underpinned by a strong regulatory framework and transparent institutions.  

“We are also rated as the most transparent country in Africa by Transparency International,” he said. 

The country boasted a mature democracy, relatively open economy with attractive tax regulations and incentives for investment, an excellent good governance track record as well as a stable political and macro-economic environment, he said.

In an effort to revive its COVID-19  ravaged economy, Dr Masisi said the country adopted the Economic and Recovery Transformation Plan to accelerate development of facilitative infrastructure, support for increased agriculture and manufacturing output and growth of the creative industry. 

He said Botswana had also developed a Digital Transformation Strategy with the aim of developing a new proposition to drive the transformation across government, the economy and society. 

“Botswana’s digital transformation is facilitated through strategic infrastructure, which includes an expansive broadband network that runs on fibre,” he said.

Dr Masisi informed his audience that Botswana had created eight Special Economic Zones (SEZ)around the country offering some of the most attractive incentives in the region.

“The sites around Gaborone aim to transform the city through a multi-sector SEZ linking with developments around the airport city, the Diamond Trading Centre and the financial services hub,” the President said.

He said other SEZ locations promoted commercial agriculture and agro-processing, meat and leather industry as well as cargo and logistics.

The efforts, he said, were geared at positioning Botswana as a competitive destination for investment.

Dr Masisi noted that France was one of the largest source of foreign direct investment in Africa. 

“Botswana is host to several French companies which have invested in different sectors of the economy,” he said citing Orange Botswana which had invested significantly in the ICT sector.

He encouraged the companies to utilise the 2002 Botswana/France Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty estabished to facilitate investment flows between the two countries.

President Masisi said the SADC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement was another key instrument for unlocking market access opportunities for Botswana-based French companies to export into greater Europe. ENDS