Govt abandons Walvis Bay project
Keikantse Lesemela | Wednesday March 26, 2014 12:42
Presenting the committee of supply on Monday, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dorcas Makgato-Malesu said the exercise which was undertaken revealed that the project is risky therefore the government has decided to pull out.
Last year the ministry requested about P272 million for the acquisition of 100 percent shareholding in the ETALE property with efforts to develop Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC). The acquisition of the property was meant to ease the economic encumbrance associated with Botswana’s landlocked status. This will give the country direct access to the maritime trade routes in the Atlantic sea.
Makgato-Malesu said the property would also broadly support the achievement of Botswana’s economic development objectives. The property, currently owned by ETALE Properties, is situated along the seashore with a quay for direct access to the sea.
The anticipated strategic economic benefits of acquiring the property included to improve Botswana’s international competitiveness, provides a harbour for import and export of commodities, provides an opportunity for diversion of regional traffic from Atlantic to sub-Saharan Africa.
However the initial request for buying the property was P105, 5 million but the minister informed the parliament that the provision has to be increased by P166 million. The committee was not pleased with the explanations given by the accounting officer as it was not clearly explained how the port is going to operate.
“It appears the proposed purchase of the property is being done in a rush to ensure that Botswana does not lose it even though we are not sure of how the port is going to function,” said Malesu.
Makgato-Malesu also informed parliament that BITC continues to support local exporters to access foreign markets in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia Namibia, Mozambique, Asia, Japan and Brazil. “As such exports continued to show an increase due to improved market access in the region and abroad during 2013”.
The generated revenue amounted to P1.7 billion cumulatively for the period to December 2013, surpassing the annual target of P870 million compared to P345.3 million over the same period in 2012 against an annual target of P310 million. She said the ministry continues to engage in trade negotiations with international stakeholders and partners with a view to creating wealth for Batswana by securing suitable markets for their goods and services as well as creating a conducive trade environment.