21 Feb 2023

Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry has hailed the recent ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by Botswana as the right move to assist the country boost its foreign earnings. Contributing to the debate on the budget proposals for the 2023/2024 financial year on February 20, Ms Manake said that was particularly because Botswana was also planning other complementary measures such as rail links, among them the Mosetse-Kazungula, Mmamabula-Lephalale and Ghanzi-Gobabis.

She added that such infrastructure would ensure that the ratification was not only in name as it would enable the country to move its domestically produced goods such as the animal vaccines that the country was renowned for. 

“Such is an indication that the proposed budget is aligned with the national vision,” she said. 

Ms Manake however, expressed some reservation that the proposed budget did not speak much on the control of animal diseases, especially in susceptible areas such as the North West and the North East districts.

“At the moment we have a new disease loosely known as ‘be mobile’ in the North West, which has the potential to cripple the agricultural sector in that area if it is not taken care of. These are issues that the proposed budget should have catered for. So I plead with the Ministry of Finance to consider allocating more funds to the Ministry of Agriculture to address such national issues,” she said.

On the tourism sector, Ms Manake advised government to close revenue leakages as it was bleeding the nation of much needed funds. 

She said that most of the tourism establishments had their agents outside the country, meaning that only operational funds were coming into the country while billions in profits were lost. 

For his part, Minister of Education and Skills Development, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe indicated that when proposing the budget, it should be considered that it carried the hopes of Batswana for better lives, making it vital for the budget to be inclusive.

“The budget speaks hope to the unemployed, especially in the rural areas where people more often than not lag behind in current issues such as access to technology in the era where such should be the driver of better knowledge dissemination,” he said.

Dr Letsholathebe also cautioned that when formulating the budget, government should prioritise things that the people had requested for rather than only what it deemed necessary. “People oriented concerns that should be factored in the budget proposals includes high cost of living, especially in the wake of international conflicts and COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

He however, appreciated the Minister of Finance, Ms Peggy Serame for considering most of such aspects, which he said also assisted in the decline of the rate of inflation and calmer outlook in the price of fuels, as well as the delisting of Botswana by the Financial Action Task Force.

Such factors, he argued, would enable a more investor friendly business environment.

“It is therefore essential to sustain such achievements to attract foreign investment, especially post pandemic,” he said. 

On the health sector, Dr Letsholathebe argued that with hindsight of the recent shortage of drugs in the country as a result of a global low supply, the private sector should be facilitated to partner with global manufacturers to set up business in the country.

“Looking at our strong budget, it should be easy to woo these foreign investors to set up business locally, as well as negotiate better supply terms and conditions,” he said.

Dr Letsholathebe also hailed government for investing more in the education sector as it had been proved that an educated workforce can better push the economy. ends