Africa-Press – Botswana. Newly sworn Namibia first female president, Ms Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah will offer Botswana opportunities to further upgrade and enhance its bilateral frameworks with her country.
Minister for International Relations Dr Phenyo Butale made this assertion in an interview ahead of 35th independence anniversary and inauguration of the 5th President of the republic of Namibia Ms Nandi-Ndaitwah.
In 2021, Botswana and Namibia agreed to upgrade their cooperation from bilateral frameworks such as the Joint Permanent Commission of Cooperation (JPCC) and the Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security to a Bi-National Commission (BNC). Dr Butale said the inaugural session of the BNC was held in September 2022 while Namibia was expected to host the second session of the meeting.
“We need to act and we are going to act. We are looking forward to a BNC and working tirelessly as new government to step up efforts to let all aspects of the agreement be done, for example the Trans Kalahari Railway project. Talks are underway for it not to be about the railway line only, it should be multifaceted and multi-sectoral such that we are able to then anchor on capabilities of our two economies and enhance our development going forward,” he said.
He said BNC discussed broad spectrum of topics of mutual interest under four thematic committees namely politics and diplomacy, economic cluster, social cluster as well as defence and security cluster with the view to further enhance and deepen bilateral ties between the two countries.
Dr Butale said the two countries had over 20 Memoranda of Understandings that looked into and acted upon timely to further enhance cooperation. He said Botswana was hopeful of its renewable energy projects and would be grateful to work closely with regional partners for further engagements.
Dr Butale said the presence of Botswana’s high-powered delegation at the inauguration ceremony was an indication of enhancing its domestic and foreign policy. He praised the Namibians of making history by ushering a female leader to the highest office in the land, saying such a move was an inspiration to Botswana where empowerment of women to political leadership roles was encouraged.
He also applauded the new wave of political leaders in the region saying Botswana had also passed ultimate test of ushering in a new government following a seamless transition of power.
“It’s a good lesson from us to the rest of our development partners that the will of the people has to be respected and we need to help others in that respect. Some dispute the electoral outcomes and it’s a common feature in our continent,” he said.
Dr Butale said the new leaders were faced with various challenges and it was important for them to build resilient economies that would create new jobs which was a common problem in most African states.
“We aim to look for partners to set up manufacturing plants. Even the SADC strategy emphasises the urgent need for industrialisation capable of creating these jobs. We need to stop consumer economies but aim to be producers to support aspirations of the AfCFTA,” he added.
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