20 Nov 2013

The development of engineering professionals is critical for the sustained socio-economic development of the nation as technology is evolving by the day.

Speaking at the Debswana engineering symposium in Gaborone on November 18 the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources (MEWR), Mr Kitso Mokaila said in every single project, professional engineers were needed and demand was much higher than the supply.

Mr Mokaila noted that there was no doubt that skills in various engineering disciplines must be developed and continually re-engineered. “There is no doubt in our minds that it is critical to develop these scarce skills to ensure that we achieve the goals of Vision 2016 to shape the future of this nation,” he said.

The intellectual skills required of engineers, he said were more demanded than ever before because there were not enough engineers to tackle the current challenges.

Minister Mokaila said the engineering symposium strives to tackle a forum for the recognition of effort within engineering in Debswana and provide the opportunity to be exposed to leading practices in asset management.

It also provided a forum for networking and skill synergy within Botswana for the engineering discipline, he added. Mr Mokaila noted that the ministry encouraged engineers to be bold in their work and know that it was through their work that the country’s economy could develop.

One of the long term goals of the country, he said was to become the mining hub of Africa and through the engineer’s ambitions and efforts Botswana could reach the goal.

“If Debswana had not adapted to the changing environment by adopting new technologies, major damage would have befallen the great company which contributes about 41 per cent government revenue, 23 per cent of the GDP,” he said.

The minister said as a company partly owned by the citizens, Debswana placed a great deal of emphasis on education and empowering Batswana as it also had numerous initiatives in place to ensure that individuals grow to their full potential.

Furthermore, he said, everyone should be proud of Debswana, not for being the largest private employer in the country but because Botswana’s economic success was attributed to the diamonds mined by the company.

Mr Mokaila said the discovery of diamonds brought about rapid and sustained economic growth, allowing for remarkable advances in both social and physical infrastructure, which dramatically improved the living standards of Batswana.

On the changing role of engineers, the Head of engineering at De Beers Mr Burger Greef said engineers now have to be marketers and not work in the background. Mr Greef said engineers have to own social responsibility and not see it as a hindrance; they also have to be innovators as well as lead business and not react to it.

The engineer of the future, he said, applies scientific analysis and holistic synthesis to develop sustainable solutions that integrate social, environmental, cultural, and economic systems. ENDS