NEW MINISTRY TO BOOST PRIVATE SECTOR - MINISTER
Minister of Entrepreneurship, Karabo Gare said the introduction of his ministry will significantly contribute to growth of government’s partnership with the private sector.
Speaking during Absa Economic forum on Thursday, Gare said government is committed to ensure that it facilitates sustainable and impactful investment that will contribute to transforming this country from an upper middle income to a high income country by 2036. “We continue to make notable strides in providing a conducive investment climate through sound macroeconomic policies, legal and regulatory frameworks, and strong economic and political institutions that promote Botswana as a safe and desirable investment destination.” Gare also pointed out that Covid-19 has brought lessons that industries cannot be stuck in the olden way of doing business. “A lot of businesses need support through both private and public sector reforms.
Accelerating transformative investment is the key to unlock opportunities across all business sectors to create sustainable industries.” For her part, Absa Bank Botswana Managing Director, Keabetswe Pheko-Moshagane said Covid-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the country’s fiscal position creating an urgent need to attract greater inflows of private capital into business and investments in Botswana.
During 2020, the global economy fell into a deep recession as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across forcing economies into strict nationwide lockdowns. This resulted in the slow implementation of reforms across many countries as policymakers focused on introducing growth supporting measures to avoid severe econmomic deterioration. Pheko-Moshahgane said Botswana’s overarching development challenge is the slow economic transformation, with limited economic diversification which is negatively impacting the progress towards achieving high-income status by 2036. “Therefore, it is imperative that Botswana attracts quality and sustainable private sector investment to reach the growth target envisaged. The Government of Botswana has made notable strides in its efforts to increase the country’s investment appeal locally and beyond the domestic market,” she said.
She highlighted that Absa has aligned its strategy to support government‘s diversification agenda and continue to support industries such as the SME’s and Agriculture sectors which are crucial for Botswana‘s transformation and sustainable growth.