Africa-Press – Botswana. Peace, respect for the rule of law and good administration that Botswana is known for has continued to put the Southern African state in better stead to trade in Africa.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Lemogang Kwape, said in an interview Thursday on the sidelines of the African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia that a good road network and the fact that Botswana was located in the middle of Sub-Saharan Africa made the country an ideal investment destination.
“Botswana’s geographic position and all its good virtues of peace, stability and good road infrastructure simply makes it easy for investors to reach the over 350 million population within the regional bloc (SADC),” he said.
Furthermore, Minister Kwape said he was pleased with investors, who were trickling into the shores of Botswana to look for investment opportunities at the invitation of President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi who had not taken his foot off the pedal in his quest to lure investors.
Just recently, Swiss Confederation president, Mr Alain Berset visited Botswana where he and President Masisi deliberated on ways to strengthen relations and improve trade between the two nations.
On other issues, Minister Kwape stated that this year’s summit delved into issues of food security in Africa to fight famine by devising ways and means to mitigate the phenomenon.
He stated that Botswana, which was hard hit by poor rains due to climate change, had undertaken to benchmark initiatives to better through-put.
“One such initiative is to send completing students from BUAN to Israel to learn best practices to turn the sector around,” he said.
Insurgency and instances of Coupe de tat that continued to ravage the continent also formed the core of this year’s AU agenda, he stated.
He cited insurgency in the Cabo Delgado region in Mozambique where the SADC forces had been deployed to fight suspected Islamist militants and instability in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as among the many issues under discussion at the AU summit.
The issue of security, according to Minister Kwape, was paramount if the landmark African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which if implemented fully would become the largest in the world, was to bear fruits.
“If there is no security within the continent there would not be any trade. Investors want stability and that is why Presidents in Africa are committed and working around the clock to ensure there is peace and stability and resultant integration,” he said. Meanwhile, Minister Kwape pleaded with Batswana especially the youth to brace themselves for 18 slots preserved for qualified Batswana at the African Union headquarters.
“Other Batswana have taken 11 such posts and I, therefore, urge the youth to keep their ears on the ground so that they can compete for the slots once they are advertised,” he concluded.
The 2023 edition of the AU summit was held under the theme: The Year of AfCFTA: Acceleration of the African Continental Free Trade Area Implementation, which is aimed at enhancing the close collaboration with relevant organs and specialised agencies of the African Union, regional mechanisms and Regional Economic Communities.
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