23 Jun 2022

Botswana hopes to benefit from the $10 million (about P122 million) secured by the Commonwealth Secretariat for funding small states, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Lemogang Kwape has said.

In an interview following the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), delegates and ministers’ high-level discussions Wednesday, Dr Kwape said Botswana, like the organisation’s other 34 small and developing states, had been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 Botswana was forced to divert some development funds towards securing COVID-19 vaccines, he said adding  that the country was grappling with the challenges exacerbated by high cost of living.

Dr Kwape said Botswana was keen to exploit the abundant solar energy it was endowed with.

“This is one of the projects which could be considered for funding because we also have the knowhow,” said the minister.

He said one of the thorny issues discussed was the borrowing model for small states with the meeting raising concerns about vulnerability in concessional financing criteria.

 The current Gross Domestic Product per capita income framework for financing development was not suitable because it did not reflect the inherent challenges and characteristics of vulnerable countries, he said.

Dr Kwape said the financing model was no longer working because each country had unique problems. 

“The rationale used for funding in the absence of a vulnerability measure does not appropriately reflect a country’s capacity to respond to shocks, especially considering that some states were prone to natural disasters due to their geographical location,” he stated.

Minister Kwape said other issues discussed included natural disasters, health and economic shocks heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic and those resulting from climate change.

Stressing the need to find lasting solutions to all of them, he said the issues would be escalated to heads of states.

Meanwhile, Commonwealth secretary general, Baroness Patricia Scotland has assured small states that they were at the  organisation’s heart, purpose and work.

She said support for small states should be both principled and practical as well as moral, political, and of economic imperative.

Baroness Scotland said centralising the needs of small states made practical sense and  was also of greatest interest because addressing vulnerabilities strengthened all.

“We know that from the world bank data, the economies are going to be driven in the future by cities and many of the small states are about the same size as some of the bigger cities,” she said.

The secretary general said it was therefore imperative for small states to have a template to holistically deliver their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.

She called on small states to speak with one voice to overcome common problems.

Baroness Scotland said the meeting acknowledged that small states, especially in the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, were disproportionately affected by shocks, particularly those stemming from climate change and natural disasters.

She said small states were also severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which caused economic shutdown coupled with travel bans imposed to fight it.

“It is therefore essential that you collectively work towards building resilient states,” she stated. Ends