Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana will forever be grateful for the assistance that Canada gave in the exploration of diamonds.
President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi expressed the gratitude on July 21 during a farewell courtesy call by the out-going Canadian High Commissioner to Botswana, Ms Christina Buchan.
President Masisi said Canada assistance had played a big role in the model of partnership that worked well for the country over the years.
“We are where we are with our diamonds because of Canada and the three Canadians who masterfully advised a nascent, rickety, fragile and an excruciatingly poor new independent government that they could instead of giving an outright license to De Beers to mine on its own, form a partnership,” he said.
President Masisi said in that respect, accolades were due to Canada for the formation of Debswana, a model which he said was emulated by Namibia.
He said that contributed in paving the way on how the relations between Botswana and Canada evolved overtime.
He also appreciated the assistance of Canada through its CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) programme, which he said played a role in Botswana’s graduation to a middle income country, and expressed the desire by the country to graduate further to a high income country.
President Masisi said Botswana and Canada had a lot of common values as members of the Commonwealth.
He appreciated Canada for its assistance to Botswana over the years, such as during the peak of HIV/AIDS and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic.
He further appreciated Canada for its support to Botswana in its quest to host the Kimberly Process Secretariat.
“Canada has been a consistent partner in our foreign policy disposition, including our development agenda and we wish for a closer relationship in the economic space as we trade more with one another,” he said.
President Masisi also promised to honour the invitation by the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to visit Canada next year.
For her part, the High Commissioner, Ms Buchan also noted that the two countries shared mutual interests and had a long and important history together working as partners in mining, economic, tourism.
“It was a pleasure working side by side with Batswana and both countries look forward to a future together, especially as the world moves towards green economy, so there is more room for further partnership,” she said.
She said the common values between the two nations made it easier to build foundations for good relations, and that her country appreciated all the support that Botswana lent on the international fora, especially on issues such advocacy for democracy and human rights.
Ms Buchan also appreciated the warmth she received from Batswana during her three-year stay in the country.
“You have a beautiful country and the people are lovely and so welcoming, and it was such a great experience working here. I am looking forward to passing the torch to the next person to move our good relations forward,” she said.
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