27 Aug 2026

Botswana is working to diversify its economy and reduce vulnerability to global economic fluctuations by attracting private investment, developing new industries and creating jobs, Vice President and Minister of Finance,  Mr Ndaba Gaolathe has said.

Speaking at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) executive meeting yesterday, Mr Gaolathe warned that economic transformation must account for growing climate and biodiversity risks.

He said capital markets were increasingly prioritising environmental criteria, forcing businesses to adapt to stricter disclosure requirements and higher supply-chain standards.

He added that for Botswana, natural resource scarcity, climate change and biodiversity loss were pressing financial risks that directly affected production costs, asset values and investment, thus managing such threats was critical to safeguarding the country’s long-term economic resilience and competitiveness.

“Chief financial officers have an important role to play in determining funding priorities, assessing risks and directing capital towards sustainable investments,” Mr Gaolathe said, noting that environmental concerns must now sit at the centre of financial discussions.

“This direction aligns with commitments under National Development Plan 12 and the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme, which prioritise private-sector growth, productivity and economic diversification. Central to this agenda is Botswana’s Sustainable Financing Strategy, which seeks to align public and private capital to build a green economy while transforming key sectors like renewable energy and sustainable tourism,” he added.

To enable such transition, he said, government had established the Botswana Green Finance Mainstreaming Working Group.

He further said to bring together financial regulators, state actors and stakeholders, the group would address regulatory gaps, establish clear market practices and support the creation of a national Green Taxonomy.

The Vice President also highlighted the need for consistent and transparent standards across sectors.

“Businesses need clarity when they design a project and go looking for green finance. Banks need clarity when they build green lending products. Investors need clarity when they allocate capital. Regulators need consistency and government needs a credible way to know whether our financial flows actually serve our national goals,” he said.

He further said the taxonomy would provide tailored market infrastructure aligned with both local priorities and international standards and help build a pipeline of bankable projects that were capable of attracting global capital.

On one hand, he said government cannot fund economic transformation alone, thus called for private domestic capital, institutional investment and international finance to work alongside public resources.

He urged stakeholders to view them as interconnected drivers to strengthen the financial system rather than treating green finance, biodiversity funding and carbon markets as isolated efforts.

UNDP BIOFIN representative, Ms Kebaabetswe Keoagile reported that joint initiatives with government ministries had already developed business cases to strengthen financial mechanisms.

Ms Keoagile said following multi-stakeholder consultations between 2019 and 2022, a review of protected-area revenue fees resulted in updated entrance rates for national parks  and generated unexpected revenue growth.

Current initiatives, she said, also included transitioning revenue collection from manual to digital systems.

She added that collaboration with civil society had prioritised Community-Based Natural Resource Management and ensure that local households directly benefitted from natural resources while educating communities on nature-related risks.

Meanwhile, the executive meeting aimed to equip financial leaders with  deeper understanding of how ecosystem degradation, water scarcity and climate change directly impact corporate performance, borrowing costs, and market stability. BOPA