14 May 2023

While the volume of trade between Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) indicates low commercial activity between the two states, it also highlights the potential for growth.

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said this on Thursday evening while addressing the Botswana-DRC Business Forum in Tlokweng.

He told the forum, held on the margins of the state visit by DRC president and SADC chairperson, Mr Felix Tshisekedi that there was enormous potential for trade linkages between the two states to grow.

“The very low trade statistics between the two countries are very concerning.

Based on those statistics, I am confident that there is scope to increase trade between our two countries and there is will to do so. 

We could easily create centres of excellence in our countries that complement our individual efforts of driving economic growth through accelerated job creation, poverty and inequality alleviation, and economic diversification,” Dr Masisi said.

Noting that the DRC was geographically the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa with a population of approximately 95 million, President Masisi said this presented Botswana-based export manufacturers with a large and profitable market with the potential to reach the necessary economies of scale.

While Botswana had a small market, this was augmented by multilateral and regional regimes such as SADC-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and others which offered businesses the prospect to be domiciled in Botswana and reach a larger market. “Our two countries are signatories to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.

This gives us an opportunity to benefit from intra-regional African trade as well as to contribute to the growth and diversification of our economies.  The agreement covers a market of 1.2 billion people and a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.5 trillion across all 55 member states of the African Union,” Dr Masisi said.

He further encouraged the business communities of Botswana and the DRC to leverage such opportunities and strengthen political and economic ties between the two countries to invest in each other’s countries.

Dr Masisi cited mining and mineral beneficiation as well as transport and logistics as being key sectors the two countries could collaborate in to grow trade and investment.

For his part, President Tshisekedi said his country had a lot to learn from the prudent management of mineral resources that Botswana was renowned for, adding the DRC sought to rehabilitate its diamond sector.

Mr Tshisekedi said he was excited by the vibrant engagement between him and President Masisi, which presented a paradigm shift in relations between the two states.

He added that the DRC being a large, centrally located African state provided land port access to Central Africa as well as East and West African markets.

He further said the Memorandum of Understanding on the Promotion of Investment and Trade between Botswana and the DRC, signed at the occasion would be a springboard for tangible efforts to deepen trade links. ENDS