03 Sep 2026

Boko appeals to African investors to lead development
By Thato Mosinyi
GABORONE, September 03 (BOPA): President Advocate Duma Boko has made a clarion call to African investors to directly fund and scale the continent's growth through targeted local platforms, venture funds, and structured investment channels.
Speaking during a courtesy meeting with Mr Aliko Dangote, the founder and President of Dangote Industries Limited yesterday, President Boko said African business leaders and home grown investors must take charge of the continent's industrial transformation by channelling resources into improving livelihoods.
“African investors, African thinkers, African intellectuals, and African entrepreneurs are responsible. We hold them eminently responsible for the development, and therefore the underdevelopment, if that eventuates, of the African continent,” President Boko said.
To that effect, President Boko stated that governments must, in return, create an environment that encourages the active participation and involvement of local investors in developing the Africaneconomy. 
He added that the continent is fully capable of this transformation and must seize the moment to
formulate policies and legislation that create an enabling environment for African investors to prosper.
President Boko noted that African countries were often criticised for failing to implement the ideas and innovations that could catapult the continent’s industrialisation drive, emphasising the urgent need forthe ability to execute  projects at scale.
“We, for our part as governments, must appreciate the biggest challenge that leadership has faced. It has not been a lack of ideas or an appreciation of what the policy and legal environment should be. It has been a failure to implement those ideas,” he said.
Consequently, President Boko affirmed his government's commitment to partnering with the Dangote Group, which already commands a significant footprint across the continent.
“We look forward to having a massive project, or a number of massive projects, commence in
Botswana. We are committed to ensuring that this happens, and happens quickly. We give our
assurance that Botswana is ready, willing, and able,” he said. 
He further promised that the chronic issue of implementation failure would not impact any of the
mutually agreed-upon projects.
Similarly, Vice President Ndaba Gaolathe reaffirmed the government’s quest for sustainable
partnerships and investments to drive inclusive growth and long-term development, as Botswana pursues economic diversification and prosperity for all. 
Such partners, he noted, should seek equitable trade on terms that serve both the investor and the nation, with a shared desire for durable, long-term collaboration.
For his part, Mr Dangote highlighted that his group was keen to partner with like-minded, results-driven governments and institutions that were motivated by execution and underscored that the Dangote Group was driven by a deep desire to positively impact the development of its host communities and society at large. ENDS