Head of coverage Africa at Rand Merchant Bank, who is based in South Africa, Tshipidi Moremong said this in a presentation at the just-ended 14th National Business Conference (NBC) organised by Business Botswana. “Top five countries that produce solar powered electricity and have created many jobs through the sector do not have as much sunlight as we have. Germany, which is at the top of the five countries, has 1,500 hours of sunshine a year while we have over 3,000 hours. Botswana also has approximately 200 million tonnes of coal reserves, which the private sector can use to generate power,” Moremong said.
“Government does not have to dig deep into its pocket to fund power-generation projects. It is the duty of the private sector to go out and look for funds, skilled manpower and develop infrastructure to execute projects. Government should let the best people handle the risk taken,” advised Moremong, adding that government should also be tasked with monitoring efficiency of the power-generation businesses.
