Africa-Press – Botswana. The leadership of Botswana and Namibia is faced with a mammoth task of addressing challenges that emanated from inequalities in the society.
Welcoming his Namibia counterpart, Dr Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah for official talks in Gaborone yesterday, President Advocate Duma Boko said a lion’s share of the population was excluded from mainstream economy, therefore wallowing in poverty. President Boko said the situation presented a serious challenge, which required the two heads of state to primarily focus on and work together to address.
He said Botswana and Namibia had economic resources, skills and manpower to move forward and create opportunities to empower their people. President Boko noted that the two nations were advanced in strengthening their bilateral and trade relations as witnessed by the ease of movement at entry points to facilitate movement of the people and trade.
In addition, President Boko said there were many other economic projects for the countries to co-invest in. He said the envisaged Trans-Kalahari Railway line was one of the main projects to undertake as one of the key drivers of economic prosperity for the sister nations. President Boko said it was important to speed up the proposed Trans-Kalahari railway line project as the corridor would enable trade and decongest some ports in Africa.
“We must remove all barriers affecting the flow of trade,” he said.
President Boko said he was aware that Namibia following the discovery of gas and oil was on the prospects of establishing refineries. He observed that it was important for Africa to focus on working together by engaging in measures that would necessitate free and smooth trade. Therefore, he said it was important to guard against external forces likely to split SADC.
“We must defend our sovereignty as a region and continent,” said President Boko adding that he was impressed by the direction which was taken by President Nandi-Ndaitwah, as it would transform Namibia for the good of her people. He said for Africa to rise, the leaders must hold each other by hand.
“We have the numbers and we are bubbling with project ideas that must be translated to action,” he said.
The President said Namibia had been generous to Botswana, citing the allocation of a portion of land where a dry port was established. He said it was important to build onto the existing historical foundation, social connections and economic ties binding the two nations and added that he was impressed to learn that one of Namibia’s veteran politician and diplomat, Dr Kaire Mbuende was still involved in running the country.
“I am happy to see him in person,” he said.
Dr Mbuende, now Director General of the National Planning Commission served as Executive Secretary of Southern Africa Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) now SADC 1994-1999.
Meanwhile, Dr Nandi-Ndaitwah, who was on her maiden visit to Botswana following her election as first female President of Namibia, concurred with President Boko that the two nations had a long sustained history creating a strong base and direction for the future. She said the long standing cooperation must be cherished and be beneficial to the people.
“Many of our people were hosted here during challenging times. We must build on what was achieved by our predecessors,” said President Nandi-Ndaitwah.
She said the first session of Botswana-Namibia bilateral relations was held in Botswana, therefore Namibia was planning to receive Botswana during the course of the year to follow-up and finalise on the agreed issues. She concurred with President Boko that situation of an unequal society was not acceptable, and it resulted in high cases of unemployment. She said the youth was mostly affected by unemployment in her country standing at 44.4 per cent.
Therefore, President Nandi-Ndaitwah said the two countries must collaborate on projects with positive significance on the lives of the people to reduce poverty, unemployment and the existing societal gap between the rich and the poor.
“We have a responsibility to our people. They are looking at us to ascend them from their suffering, we must serve them to the best of our ability.”
Dr Nandi-Ndaitwah said Africa needed to re-engage and decide on how best to serve its people.
“We have all what is needed; the skills and resources and nothing will prevent us forging forward,” she said.
Additionally, Dr Nandi-Ndaitwah said the Trans-Kalahari Railway line was a critical economic driver.
“Now we have discovered oil and gas and we cannot claim it as our own resource. We must all benefit from it,” she said.
Dr Nandi-Ndaitwah said Namibia had already proven to be a key partner in driving economic development through facilitation of trade and goods not only for Botswana but for other countries in the SADC region.
“We have a coastal tie and therefore cannot deny our neighbours access to the sea. We must continue to engage each other whenever something comes up for the benefit of our people,” she said.
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