Africa-Press – Botswana. Digital trade is one of the many vehicles that African countries, including Botswana, can leverage on to create jobs, improve services and augment national coffers.
Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Mr Tiroeaone Ntsima said this in a Friday interview on the fringes of the just-ended inaugural African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Digital Trade and Services forum in Lusaka, Zambia.
It is for this purpose that Botswana has chosen to join fellow African countries at the forum, which sought to promote Africa’s vision of a united 1.4 billion people strong market with a staggering GDP of US$3.4 trillion.
The forum was also intended to be an information-sharing platform also meant to foster the growth of new business frontiers within the digital space.
According to Minister Ntsima, Botswana has to play catch up to derive maximum benefits from the digital economy.
“It has been part of our blueprint as the new government to join the bandwagon and employ the services of the digital economy to boost the country’s ailing economy and create jobs,” he said.
A well-functioning digital economy, according to Minister Ntsima, could quickly spur growth as it promotes the free flow of goods and services without the cross-border rigors that often delay doing business between countries.
He said techno-savvy young people in Botswana should take advantage of this new frontier and start creating Apps that could benefit people across the globe.
On infrastructure and capacity building, Mr Ntsima said Botswana had a lot to do to facilitate an enabling environment for the digital economy to thrive, including making technology part of the school curriculum.
Increasing of free Wi-Fi hotspots across the country, he said, was one area in which government was working round the clock to ensure the continent’s digital trade and services.
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