30 Oct 2025

Partnerships are essential for supporting economic transformation, and Maun as a tourism hub can benefit greatly from them.

British High Commissioner to Botswana, Mr Giles Enticknap who shared this in an interview, commended Nkashi Trust for the work it was doing towards protecting the delta and its source, as well as supporting economic opportunities and sustainable livelihoods of the communities.

He said it was encouraging that the work was being carried out through partnerships, citing the partnership with National Geographic through the Okavango Eternal partnership with De Beers.

“I am impressed to learn that the trust and its partners have a series of projects supporting sustainable livelihoods of the communities, ensuring that conservation and livelihoods go hand in hand. I have also learned about the beauty, the future and the potential that lies within the delta such as the potential for harnessing the green growth in Botswana which aims to support the government economic transformation agenda,” he added.

Mr Enticknap, who has been on a three-day visit in Maun to learn and explore about the investment and partnerships opportunities the area could offer, appreciated the rich wealth of knowledge that exist within the communities living around the delta.

He said the communities’ indigenous knowledge on conservation was invaluable, and that the United Kingdom and other countries could learn best practices from Botswana to enhance the way they had been doing things as far as conservation was concerned.

He also had the opportunity to visit a shopping complex where he interacted with small and medium entrepreneurs, whom he considers the face of economic transformation as they were primary drivers of job creation and inclusive growth.

Some, he said shared about the challenges they encountered in their entrepreneurship journey, while others recounted their success stories and how they benefited from Tokafala, an enterprise development programme helping entrepreneurs develop business, financial management and marketing skills in order to be able to build successful and sustainable businesses.

Mr Enticknap acknowledged that the programme, which was being implemented through partnership between Anglo American, De Beers and the Botswana government has benefited many businesses across the country, focusing on fostering growth by helping owners to overcome challenges in business.

He said he also learnt that the programme had also helped support thousands of jobs and created hundreds of new ones while also increasing access to commercial and formal financing for entrepreneurs. ENDS