Botswana’s new president Mokgweetsi Masisi has lauded his country as a great place for businesses to invest in Africa.
Speaking at the much anticipated Gaborone Town hall discussion on youth entrepreneurship at Gaborone International Convention Center, on Tuesday. “We must stop this funny habit of keeping Botswana a best kept secret. Tell the world, come out be a proud MoTswana…” he said.
President Masisi who was flaked by guest speaker Strive Masiyiwa the telecoms mogul. He said “We are positioned so conveniently.
We are structured so conveniently. We are run not just conviniently but very well as a country and we work, we are open and this stability along with our addiction to the rule of law makes us attractive for spring boarding from Botswana….”
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Botswana is an upper middle-income country touted as one of Africa’s few success stories. The diamond-rich country enjoys stable economic growth, consistently ranks near the top of international anticorruption measures, and remains untouched by the political instability that has roiled so many African nations.
President Masisi compared Botswana to other African countries that do not respect the rule of Law and have unstable multiple currency systems and banks that can not guarantee payments in foreign currency saying Botswana respects the rule of law and has a stable currency and a growing economy and banks that can guarantee investors that what they put in will always be there and payments to creditors will be paid in the currency of your choice.
Masisi pledged to diversify Botswana’s economy into a knowledge-based economy as part of his road map get his nation to compete on a global platform. Botswana emerged from least developed country (LDC) status within one generation and is now a middle- income country.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) was a driving force in this dramatic change. The Government’s handling of the fiscal, social and economic pressures of this transformation could serve as a model for other resource-dependent economies. Botswana has been open to foreign direct investment (FDI) since independence.
This path – not often taken by others – produced results unmatched by any economy of similar size and level of development.
Thanks to its success, for more than a decade Botswana has not had to depend on external capital inflows. But FDI is still needed for the other components that investment brings: technology, skills and access to export markets.
The challenge is to enhance the contributions of FDI with complementary policies to build local capabilities and develop domestic enterprise.
