28 Jun 2022

Batswana living in the diaspora are critical to building Botswana’s reputation as they represent the country through their various work contributions in the  countries they reside in.

This was said by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi during a luncheon with Batswana living in Austria hosted by Botswana Embassy in Geneva.

President Masisi expressed delight at the value they made to Botswana’s internationalisation which ultimately positioned them well as global citizens.

He said representation of Botswana on the international stage through its human resource capital also augured well for the advancement of its knowledge-based economy quest.

“I want to thank you for presenting yourself to the global community to serve it with honesty, integrity and diligence.

You represent our country very well. I want you to continue flying the flag as you do,” he said.

President Masisi urged them to cooperate and collaborate with the mission in Geneva to partake in the Batswana living in the diaspora mapping exercise.

He informed his audience that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was facilitating that of  labour and home affairs to ensure they were counted.

 The President said they needed to be included in order for the country to know what they could offer, their views and what they did.

 “I want you to encourage your relatives to seek opportunities in the international community, to seek legitimate and honest jobs and to earn an income,” he said.

Dr Masisi emphasised the need for Batswana to sophisticate themselves explaining that progress was measured with a number of variables including technological advancement.

 He said transformation from resource-based to knowledge-based economy depended on technology therefore studying and partnering with people on global affairs was important.

 Regarding COVID-19, he said  Botswana had managed to respond positively to the pandemic stating that the country adopted the Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (ERTP) and the Reset Agenda.

The Reset Agenda was meant prioritise saving Batswana from COVID-19, align government machinery to the presidential agenda, embrace digitalisation, promotion of value chain development,  rebooting the economy and mindset change which was an essential prerequisite to any transformative agenda, said Dr Masisi.

“Take for instance - the issue of litter, punctuality, our view about how we deal with young people’s aspirations and challenges.

The mindset change requires youth exuberance to give them the space, opportunities to disrupt but maintaining Botswana within the confines of patriotic zeal,” he added.

President said he believed in transformative government that was willing to embrace change including youthful ideas.

 “We want young people to frog leap us to the next level,” he said explaining that this was because they were techno-savvy and had the zeal to do things remotely.

Citing digitisation, he said there were milestones in various online services including the recently launched land programme through which Batswana were able to access their secure land titles.

He also implored them to participate in 2024 general elections.

In an interview with some of event attendants, Mr Onkgoptse Ntibinyane, an analyst working for Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation and a UN industrial development consultant, Ms Wame Gabaake encouraged Batswana to take up jobs in international organisations.

Ms Gabaake, who has worked in Austria for five years and considers herself a global citizen, said she had enjoyed enriching herself and representing Botswana on the world stage.

For his part, Mr Ntibinyane said working for an international organisation was exposure which enabled him to look at things differently. “We deal with finding out if tremors happening around the world are not induced,” he said. BOPA