According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the “thousands of years” of historical ties between South Africa and Botswana can serve as a strong basis for the two nations’ economic and bilateral relations to expand.
The High Level South Africa-Botswana Business Roundtable was inaugurated by the President on Thursday in Botswana.
At least 50 businesspeople from both nations attended the roundtable, along with Presidents Ramaphosa and Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana and a number of ministries.
Mutual investment, according to President Ramaphosa, is one of the main areas for progress in economic relations.
“Over the past five years, South Africa’s foreign direct investment stock in Botswana has increased year-on-year, reaching US$ 5.1 billion in 2021. While we will continue to encourage South African investment into Botswana, we are encouraged by the Botswana companies that have already invested in South Africa.
“Between January 2003 and December 2021, we saw nine FDI projects from Botswana to South Africa. They attracted capital investment worth R3.9 billion, resulting in the creation of over 2 000 jobs. We would like to see these numbers grow exponentially,” President Ramaphosa said.
The President asserted that Botswana and South Africa’s efforts in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) looks well for the two nations’ potential to fully benefit from the operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
According to him, this will open up new markets throughout the rest of the continent, where the two nations have “immense potential.”
“The joint export promotion platforms that are being discussed at SACU level for leveraging AfCFTA trade opportunities are promising. I urge that the same vigour be given to concluding the work of creating industrial value-chains in the SACU. Through these value-chains, we will be able to grow our industrial exports to the rest of the continent.
“New markets in West, East, North and Central Africa hold immense potential for both South Africa and Botswana. We will be able to produce and export local goods, products and services to our fellow African countries, which would otherwise be sourced from outside the continent,” President Ramaphosa said.
The President listed a few of the “many opportunities” that collaboration between the two nations can produce.
“Work is already underway on leather and leather products, fresh produce, meat and meat products, textiles, clothing, cosmetics and essential oils. These sectors present opportunities for the development of regional value chains across the region.
“They also present opportunities for SACU exports to the rest of Africa, to the United States under AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act), to the European Union under the EPA (Economic Partnership Agreements), and to other strategic markets in Asia and the Middle East,” he said.
President Ramaphosa remarked that South Africa’s position as one of the continent’s most industrialised nations may serve as a springboard for the entire region.
“It is through this base that we should lift all the countries in Southern Africa and use this endowment to ensure that we do grow and capture the opportunities that are to be found on the continent,” President Ramaphosa said.