Africa-Press – Botswana. Batswana living abroad should always remember and love their country. President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said this to Batswana living in Germany during a meet and greet session in Munich on September 24.
“Continue living in Germany, excel in Germany, but remember your homeland,” he said.
He urged them not to give up their citizenship, which he said gave holders laudable and attractive opportunities that if taken full advantage of could open up international opportunities for the citizen.
Apprising them on the state of affairs in Botswana, Dr Masisi said the country was making progress towards the attainment of a knowledge-based economy as evidenced by among others strides in innovation.
“We have notched up and reached the fastest growth rate of innovation and jumped many places to be in the top three in Africa and have consistently maintained that pattern. So, we encourage all our citizens
to innovate, develop our value chains, to be committed to excellence to make sure that we build on our comparative advantages,” he said.
President Masisi said with over 500 villages in the country now having access to high speed internet connectivity, one of whose outcomes was the opportunity to provide digitised learning, Botswana was on course to revolutionise the ecology of doing business and consequently drive its transformation agenda.
Dr Masisi also spoke of the handsome rewards that Botswana would reap from beneficiation of its diamonds following the recent striking of a new deal with De Beers, a venture more lucrative than participation in the rough diamond space as was presently the case.
“We have also remedied the way that we relate with our partner [De Beers] on the mining of diamonds space.
For the first time, Botswana government through private companies and its own companies will be participating in the beneficiation of diamonds, and that is a huge opportunity compared to the rough diamond space which has limited returns,” he said.
Mr Oren Kgosietsile, a Motswana student and entrepreneur who attended the session lauded Botswana for its policies, citing the Reset Agenda as one of the progressive frameworks that could steer the country forward.
Mr Kgosietsile, who started a shoe label in Germany dubbed Letlo appealed to fellow Batswana to harness the endless opportunities available to them to venture into and spread their entrepreneurial wings to the diverse and sprawling markets offered by countries across the globe. Another Motswana, Ms Keletso Kowa-Kraus commended the Botswana Embassy in Germany for the support it continually rendered to Batswana residents in the European country.
President Masisi was in Germany on a three-day working visit.
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