21 Nov 2013

The role of government needs to be defined to facilitate private sector development by providing a good investment and business climate.

Policy advocacy director at BOCCIM, Mr Dichaba Molobe told a round table discussion on industrial development in Botswana Tuesday, November 19 that openness to the world needed to be taken into consideration and incorporated in to the country’s strategy.

Mr Molobe stated openness to the world meant Botswana as a country should be willing to accommodate skilled expatriates and celebrate imported talent. He advised all barriers to attracting talent should be removed.

Mr Molobe said Botswana scored poorly in terms of the ease with which movement of goods is facilitated, citing closing hours for borders, procedures for clearing goods all of which needed improvement.

Automating procedures for clearing goods through electronic single window he said should be considered to enable tracking of goods, purchasing of goods and submission of tax returns on-line so that Botswana could compete in the global economy.

He said Botswana might be landlocked with a small domestic market but was neighbour to Africa’s biggest and most sophisticated economy, and there was need to tap in to South Africa’s market and open up a 24 hour border with the country.

Furthermore Acting Deputy Director, Department of Industrial Affairs, Mrs Mosadinyane Nthomiwa said the policy identified the main new factors to which the industrial development of Botswana must respond, and then set out the main policy directions.

Mrs Nthomiwa stated government’s endeavour towards maximizing the returns from the export sector and foreign direct investment, was intended to reduce Botswana’s reliance on the mining sector. She said the ministry continued to engage with the private sector through mechanisms like High Level Consultative Council (HLCC), National Economic Diversification Council (NEDC) and National Business Conference among others.

Mrs Nthomiwa added consultation between government and private sector had always been at the heart of industrial policy. market opportunities for the private sector. Mr Peter Stein, an Economist said Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) was the world’s next fastest growing region for over ten years. He said in 2000 SSA had nine middle income countries, but now had 22 with a population of 380 million inhabitants, with 85 million households belonging to global consuming classes.

Mr Stein stated that in 2002, 32 percent had secondary or tertiary education, and that by 2020 almost 50 percent would have it. He said for the first time the share of population living in absolute poverty was below 50 percent. He argued Botswana needed to establish economic frameworks conducive to trade and economic growth. BOCCIM held the round table discussion in collaboration with Chamber Trade Sweden. ENDS