02 May 2022

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has implored Batswana to leverage digital technology to exploit value chains brought about by the annual Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival to attract both domestic and international tourists. 

Officially opening the nineth edition of the Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival on Saturday, President Masisi who was accompanied by First Lady Neo Masisi and cabinet ministers, said value chain development was in line with the Reset Agenda. 

He encouraged entrepreneurs to come up with innovative ideas with exponential growth beyond the bounders, adding that distance should not be seen as a barrier and technology must be used to unlock equal opportunities in the same manner as anyone else in other geographical locations. 

He added that the villages near Khawa could also benefit from the Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival by coming up with services and products that supported the sport and cultural tourism event. 

Furthermore, President Masisi noted that the festival started as a small event and had grown in leaps and thereby improving livelihoods over the years.

“What started as a past time activity for enthusiasts and revelers alike, has grown into a national event that is now a regular feature in the calendars of many locals, participants and tourists from beyond our borders,” he said.

 He said the total number of spectators who attended the event in 2018 was estimated at around 8 000 from 7 500 the previous year. 

With every installment of the event, a socio-economic impact survey is carried out and the results indicate a positive trend, he said. 

Furthermore, he said the community of Khawa and surrounding places had derived socio-economic benefits that would transform their livelihoods for the better. 

To date, Khawa Dune challenge has contributed tremendously to development of Khawa, he said  adding that he had fulfilled his promise of delivering solar street lights, paving of road, construction of market stalls, maintenance of Khawa Kgotla, and planting date palms on a 2.5km stretch. 

Thus, he encouraged the residents to take full advantage of the infrastructural developments and take care of them to improve their livelihoods. 

He said, government had prioritised a total of five areas for adaptation to the value chain principle under the Revised Tourism Policy of 2021, which included events tourism within which the Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival is vested; Bojanala Cluster Development, Cultural Tourism Development, Community Projects, and Dams Tourism. 

Thus, he called for continued private sector participation and re-positioning of the events.

 He commended the Botswana Tourism Organisation in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Kgalagadi district authorities and Motorsport Botswana for collectively working together to hold a successful event. 

This year’s event, he noted included a new 500km race for the professional riders. 

“The race will form part of the national races in the Botswana Motorsport calendar, where participants will gain racing points,” he said. He said, COVID-19 pandemic affected the whole world, and Botswana was not spared. The resulting situation was that the 2020 and 2021 Khawa Dune Challenge events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 movement restrictions. “COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the need to prioritise domestic and regional tourism. This requires that we develop products that are appealing to the citizenry, as well as to our neighbouring countries. Products such as the Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival, are key to reaching this goal. 

Therefore, we need to work together as the Government, private sector and the local communities to enhance such activities and events, as well as to develop more across the entire country,” 

“We will closely evaluate other events that are held in Botswana, such as the Botswana Kalahari 1 000 Toyota Desert Race and the Makgadikgadi Epic to ensure that Batswana derive maximum benefits from them,” he said.

For her part, Minister of Environment and Tourism, Ms Philda Kereng, said COVID-19 had affected tourism and therefore it was imperative to resuscitate it, make Khawa a tourist centre and value added diversification project in line with the Revised Tourism Policy of 2021. 

She said it presented opportunities for business start-ups, motorsport adventure and cultural tourism opportunities who had the potential to attract more local, regional, and global arrivals to compliment the traditional wildlife tourism offering. 

Meanwhile, Kgalagadi South MP , Mr Samuel Brooks said since the inception of the festival, there had been improvement in the area and they would work with relevant authorities to facilitate creation of value chains, creation of a nature reserve at Khuis and various other tourist attraction areas in Kgalagadi South. 

He called for construction of Khawa road to enable easy travel for tourist. Kgosi Piet Manyoro appreciated delivery of infrastructural developments brought about by the Khawa Dune Challenge and Cultural Festival to his village. He said the event continued to grow which was a welcome development as it created employment opportunities for the people. BOPA