12 May 2026

From breaking records on the track to strengthening regional ties, President Advocate Duma Boko says sport has evolved beyond recreation into a powerful force for unity, economic growth and continental transformation.

Speaking at the High-Level Sports Sequence, Sport in Africa: A Field of the Future at the University of Nairobi on May 11, President Boko said sport was also an investment opportunity that could unlock employment and tourism.

He said sport could further drive infrastructure development, youth empowerment and regional integration.

President Boko said Botswana recently hosted the Debswana World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26, where several records were broken.

Among the achievements recorded at the competition, he said, were personal bests, national records and championship records.

“Therefore, if you want world records to be broken, to feel the vibe, the funk of sport and the unity that it brings, make sure most of the activities are held in Botswana,” he said.

President Boko said all the medals were embedded with natural diamonds, adding that this alone testified that Botswana had made a bold statement to the world that natural diamonds carry stories and memories.

“All these took place in Botswana, for the first time in amazing fashion, that Botswana, the largest producer of diamonds by value, introduced something spectacular and different,” he said.

President Boko said natural diamonds also carried epic memories about the lives and livelihoods of real people, adding that infrastructure had been developed from the resource and would continue to be developed.

He said sport had helped demonstrate to the world the spectacular achievements that could be made through sport and the proper utilisation of mineral wealth by countries.

“We look forward to creating partnerships. We have president Patrice Motsepe here who knows and who saw that toward the end of the contest that we held in Botswana, they were two vicious competitors, brothers toward Botswana and South Africa, and they pushed each other hard, as we always do in sport. We support each other, we collaborate with each other, we challenge each other, we push each other hard to achieve the highest standards of excellence in the different sporting codes. And we saw that between Botswana and South Africa,” he said.  ENDS