China invites Botswana to come to the party

Richard Moleofe | Friday July 17, 2015 14:25

He was accompanied by a host of officers, amongst them Deputy ambassador Li Nan. The press briefing was in actual fact premised on the recent reports on the Sunday Standard. The paper listed a litany of disgruntlements by the Botswana government regarding several projects undertaken by Chinese constructers.

Without doubt the Chinese are really taking these accusations very seriously and they seem to be ready to act on mending the fractured relationship. At the press briefing, Tang who is the political officer for the embassy, listed several projects that their government would be undertaking in Botswana.

The list was long and impressive. As a patriot, I breathed a sigh of relief when among other things he mentioned that they are going to have input in the leather industry. The leather industry should have been given this lease of life decades ago.

The genesis of the leather industry in Botswana and presumably in the beef town of Lobatse has a significant potential to turn around the economy of this country. A significant size of the population is still highly reliant in the agriculture sector in one way or the other.

From this press briefing, it has become very clear that China is more than earger to mend the fractious relationship with Botswana. And from the look of things, Botswana stands to benefit a great deal in the envisaged projects that are focused by the Chinese government.

From reading the article in the Sunday Standard, the government of Botswana has some contention with the fact that Chinese contractors do not only do shoddy work on national projects awarded to them. Their worry is also based on the fact that Chinese business people are not willing to reinvest any amount of their earnings in Botswana.

Because I was present during the press briefing, I threw two questions to the ambassador. The one question was specific to the issue of deportations of Chinese nationals that occur regularly in Botswana. The other question was directed to the issue of corruption in Chinese run projects.

The deputy ambassador addressed the two questions and from his tone it became very clear that the Chinese government is not amused by these regular deportations. He cited one of the most ridiculous reasons for denying a Chinese businessman the renewal of his work and residence permit. The business man had earlier been charged over illegal fishing. For this ignorable misdemeanour, the man was slapped with a fine, which he paid without hesitation.

The question that we need to debate at this point in time is whether we as a nation are prepared to forgo such important relationships with another country over a bucket of fish. Of course Botswana has her own laws and anyone coming here must adhere to such.

Botswana has one of the toughest immigration laws that are obviously not investor friendly. No reasonable businessperson will want to reinvest their hard earned income back into a country where there is no assurance and guarantee of further staying to do business. Deportations in this country no longer require any form of explanation of any sort. The government has free reign in deporting whoever and whenever.

The problem lies in the fact that our immigration officers including the minister himself have lost control over the implementation of laws and regulations in Botswana. Immigration has virtually fallen into the hands of intelligence officers. The Directorate of Intelligence and Security Service (DISS) is virtually in charge of this country and this is far from bringing the right atmosphere for business.

If we are still seriously in search of Foreign Direct Investment, the government needs to rethink their position particularly in the area of reinventing investor friendly immigration laws. We need to learn from our neighbours to the south. South Africa has recently introduced some of the worldís stringent immigration laws. Every child under the age of 18 can no longer travel on their own and has to be in possession of a birth certificate in order to be allowed entry into the country. Both parents appearing on the certificate have to be present or either signs a consent letter allowing the minor to travel with the other parent. These laws have infuriated many travellers who were not even made aware of such at the time they applied for their visas.

The laws were created to help in arresting the escalating rate of human trafficking but it is the implementation that has come back to haunt the South African government. Recently, a mother and her two minor children were returned at O.R Tambo International airport back to the United States of America for the one reason that they did not have birth certificates in their possession. This issue was flying high on different social media and it caused unforeseen consternations.  The new South African laws have caused a significant drop in the number of tourists visiting that country.

 Is Botswana prepared to go through the same painful exercise that will certainly dampen our economy? As a country we stand to benefit far more in our relationship with China than they would. Our government will therefore need to nurture this important relationship.

Currently, China is the world’s second largest economy and we definitely need to arise to their current overtures and allow a strong relationship to thrive. For the size of our population, China can literally transform our economy overnight.

The government needs China’s assistance in postponed infrastructure projects such as internal roads in Gabane and Mogoditshane. It defeats anyone’s mind to realise that Mogoditshane residents are living under challenging health circumstances because of dusty internal roads.

According to the press release, China is willing to use her advantage in capital to help Botswana. For every project that the people of this country have requested, capital has been given as the reason for none delivery. Now the opportunity has presented itself on a silver platter. In this matter of capital, the Chinese are not just speaking wishful thinking. The recent establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank by China and her friends presents a golden opportunity for Botswana to meet her longstanding needs in the area of infrastructure development.

Botswana needs to cultivate her relations with China in order to move on from what David Magang has described as economic stagnation for the last three decades. Unfortunately, those in power donít seem to be concerned over this crucial matter. We remain in our stupor when the country is slowly sliding into economic chaos. This is something that we certainly can avoid.

Because Botswana feels aggrieved by the conduct of the Chinese contractors, it is now payback time, from what the ambassador of China says. The starting point is the total review of the unfriendly immigration laws. And the Chinese are clear about this one point and I strongly sympathise with their position.

If we as a country are not willing to take a ride on the Chinese economic wagon, then that will be something I can term as an unpardonable sin. We made a serious and irreversible mistake in the late 80s when corporations were disinvesting from the then apartheid South Africa. Even after South African gained her independence in 1994, we witnessed the reversal of whatever gains we had made in terms of FDIs.

Botswana needs one major thing in their quest to attracting FDIs-paradigm shift. Our immigration laws are nowhere near friendly. We need to come to our senses and awaken to the fact that we are living in a global village where residents of Gabane in Kweneng District are neighbours with residents of Kunming in Yunnan Province. Should we reject Chinaís current advances this time around, we would have spelt economic doom upon our country for generations to come.

*Richard Moleofe is a Retired Military

Officer (Distinguished Service Medal)