Location of S/Phikwe makes it a hard-sell

Addressing the business community here last week, Makgato-Malesu said the copper-nickel town was disadvantaged by its location and relative inaccessibility. BEDIA is in discussions with Air Botswana to introduce a route to the mining town that Makgato-Malesu insists has the potential to attract investors to diversify its economy, Selebi-Phikwe being nearer South Africa and Zimbabwe than it is to any other town in Botswana.

She said BEDIA was about to sign a Memorandum of Agreement to benefit Selebi-Phikwe with South Africa's Limpopo Province. Her organisation owns 43, 000 square metres of undeveloped land that it has reserved for investors in Selebi-Phikwe. BEDIA also owns factory shells for rental below the market rate. "We always intensify our campaigns to potential investors abroad to come and invest in this town, but there are some bottlenecks beyond our control that make our job difficult," Makgato-Malesu said.