Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana Economic Transformation Programme is poised to change the national economy from a stagnant one largely dependent on one commodity, to one that diversifies income streams and creates high value jobs, President Advocate Duma Boko has said.
Launching the new transformation programme in Gaborone yesterday, he said the country had been blighted by a mono-sector economic base, poverty, unemployment and non-performing institutions, which necessitate a change in approach.
“It cries out for transformation, and against this short list of ambiguities and flaws, I am here to announce, declare and defend an agenda built around four action points. First to pivot a resource-based economy to a diversified, services-led economy that creates high value employment, attracts long term investment and builds globally competitive institutions,” said President Boko.
He proceeded to pronounce other key points as being to establish Botswana as a regional anchor for cross-border financial activity; to leverage the country’s legal certainty, political stability and reputational standing and to deliver sustainable economic value.
“This agenda delivers a shift that enhances macroeconomic stability, increases resilience to exogenous shocks and fosters a broader and more equitable growth model. It enables us to find new revenue streams, professional sectors and business ecosystems,” said the President.
He further described the programme as ‘our grand mission to dismantle bureaucratic inertia and build a fast and fearless delivery card, and a world class, fully actionable execution framework.’
President Boko related how Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore transformed rapidly to stand out as good models for economic development through vision, and a government that understood its tasks and how to engage the private sector as an agent of national wealth.
“Our economic transformation programme will be both a catalyst and a vehicle to power the country’s transformation into a more diversified, resilient and globally connected economy. This transformation is not only about unleashing private capital, it is equally about unlocking the latent intelligence and potentialities within our public sector and our communities,” the President said.
In building a new Botswana, government envisions a society where the public sector would be a laboratory of forward thinking policy, digital delivery and citizen focused operational readiness, with the National Planning Commission located at the centre, ensuring coherence and that policies adhered to the national vision and public value.
“Each institution will be accountable for tangible products and outcomes fully aligned with the precepts of Vision 2036, as well as the proximate pathways set out in the manifesto of the Umbrella for Democratic Change. Key performance indicators will no longer be optional, they will be the scorecard by which performance is judged,” said President Boko.
He said that Botswana engaged PEMANDU Associates, one of the world’s leading transformation firms, which helped countries such as Malaysia, Tanzania and Rwanda and was endorsed by the World Bank, and institutions such as Bloomberg, and American Ivy league universities, Harvard and Princeton.
Moreover, citizens and private sector entities would have the opportunity to contribute ideas to the transformation plan, the President said.
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