Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana and Japan have signed a P1.5 billion loan under the COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Fund, which will go a long way in closing the financial gap of the country’s transformation agenda.
Speaking during the signing of the loan on Friday, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Lemogang Kwape, said the loan would also allow for the implementation of priority development projects aimed at giving impetus to economic development.
“This is a very timely offer of assistance given that Botswana like other countries is still grappling with the effects of COVID-19, which had negatively affected our economy and status of our revenues,” said Dr Kwape.
He further said the Japanese gesture demonstrated the depth and breadth of the bilateral relations that the two countries built over the years, since both countries established diplomatic relations in 1966. He said cumulatively, the assistance that Botswana had received from Japan was significant and cut across areas such as capacity-building and financing of infrastructure, which included the Kazungula Bridge Project and support for environmental management, among others.
He further said that Botswana would meet all the loan obligations as agreed by the two countries.
Meanwhile, the Counsellor of the Embassy of Japan, Ms Murai Makiko said the loan would assist Botswana in providing social protection to vulnerable groups to pursue green and digital transformation and in turn positively contribute to the economic recovery and social stabilisation from the aftermath of COVID-19.
She said the global pandemic consequent policies had affected the country’s economy and had severe impact on the lives of the people.
“In spite of these challenges, the government of Botswana and all Batswana have made tremendous efforts to get out of this harsh condition,” she said.
As such, she said the COVID- 19 Crisis Response Emergency Support loan agreement, which the two countries were about to conclude, was a symbol of efforts from Japan to assist countries in rebuilding economies hit by the global pandemic.
She added that the country would use the loan to address challenges that emerged in the wake of COVID-19 for Botswana to attain its goal of reaching an ideal society as indicated by the Reset Agenda, Vision 2036 and National Development Plan.
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