05 Mar 2023

The launch of Botswana’s first iStore is a good step in the country’s ideals of partaking in the fourth industrial revolution, says Gaborone Bonnington West Member of Parliament Ms Annah Mokgethi.

Ms Mokgethi, also Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, was speaking at the opening of iStore at The Fields Mall in the capital’s central business district (CBD), Thursday.

The store, brought by a South Africa-based Core Group Africa is an authorised dealer of products of American multinational technology company Apple Inc.

She said digitisation of the economy was a priority of government and investment in the Information Communications Technology (ICT) sector would assist in that regard.

Consequently, she said government had started knowledge-based initiatives such as SmartBots in line with the aspirations of the country’s national vision, the Transitional National Development Plan (TNDP), which embraces the use of modern technology to boost domestic entrepreneurship.

“The use of ICT in the economy is an engine that can serve as a catalyst to more efficient provision of goods and services to the public and Apple products are known to be of the best quality globally and their diverse high technological devices should benefit people across the country,” Ms Mokgethi said.

She said as the area MP she was pleased that the store would initially employ 12 Batswana youth who have been recruited and trained on the use and application of Apple products and this would ultimately lead to sustained livelihoods.

She further expressed gratitude to Core Group Africa management for offering Batswana consumers the option of a 24 to 36-month payment period on their Apple products as it would afford more people the opportunity to purchase such goods.

For his part, Core Group Africa CEO, Mr Matthew Grose said the first authorised Apple products store in Botswana was the 37th in Africa and only the fifth to be opened outside South Africa.

He said in addition to ‘offering credit to allow for the average person in the street to use the best technology in the world’ their iStore would also have specialised prices on MacBook products for teachers and learners.

Also, consumers will be offered discount prices on some products initially and device financing would be introduced later for customers to trade-in old products. ENDS