12 Jul 2023

The leadership of the City of Francistown yesterday gathered at Cresta Thamapa hotel to watch the official opening of the US- Africa Business summit which was performed by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

The event, organised by Francistown City Council brought together drivers of city’s economy under one roof to watch and share ideas on how to exploit the trickle down effects of the summit.  Attendees, who included Business Botswana representatives, informal sector representatives, dikgosi, senior government officials and other stakeholders, hailed summit as an opportunity create investment synergies and expose Botswana to international investors.

Speaking at the event, the mayor of the City of Francistown, Mr Godisang Radisigo said the initiative would help create partnerships opportunities for Francistown businesses.

Also, he said the summit would bring exposure to upcoming local entrepreneurs and assist them to increase productivity and output to exploit international markets.

Mr Radisigo advised business people to explore trade opportunities such as in leather production, taking advantage of the country’s cattle industry. Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) manager in Francistown, Mr Kebaswele

Kebaswele said BITC was ready to scout for new business opportunities at the ongoing summit.

He said the summit was a way of increasing investments between the continent and the United States hence exposing Batswana to international markets.

Mr Kebaswele said one of the biggest opportunities the summit presented was investment in digital transformation to build the continent’s digital future.

He said this would promote digital literacy among young people and encourage more investment in the African economies and digital sector. He said the summit would result in more partnerships allowing sharing of different knowledge and ideas that could be used to grow the economy.

Chairperson of Francistown informal sector, Mr David Mbulawa said the summit would encourage digitalisation and that would enable them to sell their products to a larger market.

He said this summit was a sign that government recognised small scale businesses and the impact that they were capable of making in international investments.

He urged other business owners to follow all protocols needed to successfully operate a business so that they could end up competing globally. ENDS