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05 Feb 2023

Botswana will host the 15th US/Africa Business Summit is expected to strengthen the country’s investment and trade relations with the US.

Speaking during a media briefing session on Thursday, Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Mmusi Kgafela said the summit would serve as a platform for US and African private sector and government representatives to network with key private and government decision makers and explore new business opportunities.

Mr Kgafela said the summit would present opportunity for business linkages and potential joint-ventures as well as advocate for and shape US/Africa business investment policies.

In line with the coming event, the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) president and chief executive officer, Ms Florie Liser and her team were in Gaborone for a week to undertake a due diligence exercise to determine the country’s readiness to host the high-level event, he said.

The minister said the entourage had been to several venues, including hotels as well as government institutions to determine which places had been given a green light and which ones needed improvement.

In her remarks, Ms Liser said CCA was a non-profit business association, established 30 years ago and had a purpose to provide access connections and insights needed to do business successfully in the continent of Africa.

Ms Liser said they had successfully attained their mandate through hosting the event across Africa, citing that the summit had been held before in Cape Town – South Africa, Addis Ababa - Ethiopia and in Marrakesh – Morocco and now plans were underway to host it in Gaborone – Botswana.

She said though Botswana has a small economy, she had a big footprint and that was important as the country was leading the way in a number of areas that were vital for businesses in US as well as their government in terms of good governance.

Ms Liser said the way Botswana had organised her financial sector was quite noticeable, mentioning that there were indices that indicated that the country was a lead in a number of areas that were really critical for economic advancement.

Therefore, she said, she was confident about the decision taken by her board of directors to give Botswana an opportunity to host the summit. 

“From the US government, we expect people to come of a range of our agencies being the department of commerce, department of state, the office of the US trade, the US import and export bank,” she said.

The CEO of Botswana Investment and Trade Centre, Mr Keletsositse Olebile said in due course they would share information about sponsorship and partnership opportunities available for private sector participation.

The summit will be held from July 11 – 14, under the theme, “Enhancing Africa’s value in global value chains.” ENDS