"If Gates had come here and said, 'Look, I have a brilliant idea' . someone would have told him," 'You are not going to add any value to the economy'," he said of the government's attitude towards investors.

However, Ibrahim argued that instead of looking at only one's pocket, the government should also look at what is in the mind - the idea that one brings.

He said as Botswana stands on the threshold of 40 years of independence it must move forward, but this can only happen if there is a change of mindset "otherwise we will be left behind while everybody moves forward in leaps and bounds."

And the irony of it, he said, is that today, it is the same Gates who is pouring millions of Pula into Botswana to help fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic, that is threatening to reverse the many milestones the country has achieved over the last 40 years.

And as if giving yet another warning, he pointed out that while BOCCIM is talking about the economic melt down that has hit the country, the government refuses to listen and instead "they are calling us names." "I am going to be diplomatic about it and call it an economic malfunction," he said.

And while he would not query government's economic outlook of a six percent growth, he said this was a mineral driven growth and it is one that is not yielding any jobs.

He also pointed that while many people were happy with the government's whooping P5.8 billion development budget, which is expected to yield jobs for the private sector, six months down the line only P800 million has been spent.

"Come on guys, there is something inherently wrong in our system but when we call on government we are told 'you guys are scaring away investors'," he said.

Ibrahim is adamant that he would rather speak the truth even if it ruffles people's feathers and he would not stop unless someone proves him wrong.

"Botswana has billions overseas, who is playing around with it," he asked but pointed out that this same money could be used to launch a satellite for instance.

In that way, he said, such a feat would get the world looking and taking notice of Botswana. Alternatively, Botswana could piggy back on companies such as cellular-phone giant MTN which has a presence in Africa and the Middle East "instead of the tried and tested system of keeping money in the bank."

But then, Ibrahim knows too well that our civil service is where one gets a job for life and nobody has ever been fired except maybe drunk drivers or sleeping security.

Ibrahim, who was the guest speaker at the launch of the HPS Hosted Messaging Suite, a business class email solution based on Microsoft technology also pointed out that people are afraid of citizen economic empowerment, which he said is about Batswana taking the lead in business. But, he said, people should be empowered through skills and not have jobs reserved for citizens as is done in the Information Technology sector.

"Reservations put you in a cattle post mentality. You remain there and crowd each other until you kill each other," he said advocating for people to go into equity partnership and skills transfer.