11 Aug 2026

The Vice President and Minister of Finance, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe, has hailed the lasting partnership between Botswana, the European Union (EU) and the World Bank, saying development advances when partnership is patient, practical and rooted in trust. 

Speaking during a dinner organised to bid farewell to the outgoing World Bank country director Mr Liang Wang and EU ambassador to Botswana and Southern African Development Community, Ms Petra Pereyra in Gaborone, recently, Mr Gaolathe said the two development partners had helped turn broad commitments into practical cooperation that supported Botswana’s ambitions for a greener economy, a more diversified economy and wider opportunity for its people. 

Under Ambassador Pereyra’s stewardship, Mr Gaolathe said the EU supported renewable energy, digital transformation, innovation, enterprise development and civil society. 

He said the partnership helped place skills in the hands of young people, strengthen communities and link enterprise to job creation. For that reason, the Vice President said Botswana would also remember Ms Pereyra for her elegance, warmth and determined spirit, as the country shared common values with her. 

Turning to Mr Wang, he said the World Bank helped government think more deeply about productivity, human capital, small enterprise, public finance and the systems through which services were delivered. 

He said the Bank’s contribution was matched by dialogue on reform and investment in water, energy, health, education and social protection. 

Under Mr Wang’s leadership, Mr Gaolathe said the World Bank supported stronger social protection systems and expanded access to reliable water in drought-prone communities. 

“A functioning tap may appear ordinary. In a water-scarce community, it is public policy made visible. It is dignity flowing into a household,” he added. 

Furthermore, the Vice President commended Mr Wang’s intellectual rigor and discipline, his listening ear, patience and tenacity in engaging hard questions rather than walking around them.

 While the EU widened the country’s pathways into green growth, skills and enterprise, he said the World Bank sharpened how government thought, spent and delivered. 

“Together you showed that development advances when partnership is patient, practical and rooted in trust,” he said. 

Mr Gaolathe thanked the teams that worked alongside the two outgoing leaders, adding that the country looked forward to carrying the relationships forward. ENDS