Mophuting wants Batswana in economy building
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:54
Responding to the State of National Address (SONA) in Parliament on Tuesday, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gaborone Bonnington North constituency, said one of the most critical priorities of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC)-led government, in line with their manifesto, is to deepen the economy, build an inclusive one, which stimulates job creation.
“My constituency of Gaborone Bonnington North has big players in the diamond industry, and I’m calling for full value chain development of the diamond industry. Concerning rough diamonds, the size of the market is estimated at $12.7 billion globally, which has come down from 17 Billion USD, as a diamond-producing country, there are opportunities for us to push it back up to $17 billion. But the biggest opportunity is on the jewellery sales side, the size of the market for jewellery is 100 billion globally, and once we’ve produced that jewellery, we of course export it outside the country,” she said.
Furthermore, she specifically called for full beneficiation of diamond products, which includes jewellery to be undertaken in her constituency and employ skilled citizens.
She said they need to intensify skill development in jewellery and full diamond beneficiation both locally and internationally. Moreover, she said there are countries with advanced jewellery human capital development centres and the UDC-led government will benchmark from them. Mophuting said she was elated to hear the president, Duma Boko emphasis in his SONA speech, about government’s commitment to working with local and global technology companies to rapidly prepare Botswana for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and drive meaningful economic transformation for the nation, following their manifesto.
On education, Mophuting said as part of the UDC Manifesto on Inclusive Economic Growth, now that they are in government, the education system will be overhauled to usher in STEM curriculum to produce learners with education with production, engineers, scientists, technologists and other critical disciplines such as lawyers, accountants, economists, doctors, creative arts and so forth. She continued: “Our education institutions will be provided with modern and state-of-the-art facilities, laboratories, libraries, computer centres, stadia, creative arts auditoriums, sports and recreation centres to harness and develop diverse talents.”
She also expressed her excitement upon hearing the President in Selebi-Phikwe strongly condemning corruption and pledging to reform institutions like the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), which for too long have been rendered toothless organisations. Meanwhile, the Assistant Minister said she will also call for independent forensic audits in some institutions under her direct supervision at the Ministry for State President to buckle up. While the growth of the economy is also dependent on trade and investment, she said for them to grow the economy and generate quality jobs, they need to trade with other countries in products such as diamonds, beef, textiles and other commodities.
“Botswana, as we know, is a participant in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), an agreement that aims to create a single market for goods and services, we became the 51st country to sign the AFCFTA in February 2019. We have big trade agreements with SACU, SADC, WTO, EU just to mention but a few,” she said. Mophuting said these agreements need very good international relations.
She, however, said in a progressively interconnected and interdependent world, international relations are substantially important in shaping the course of global events. Furthermore, she said the importance of international relations cannot be overstated, and as a UDC-led government through the recently renamed Ministry of International Relations, will continue to cultivate and develop good relations with SADC, AU and the entire Global Community. She said the capacity of the diplomatic missions will be strengthened to effectively advance Botswana’s national interests on the global stage.