Mmegi

Zotus, BITC double down on $50bn project dream

Holding the line: 
Zotus City developers with President Boko during the official opening of Global Expo Botswana 2025. Last week, the Zotus officials and senior BITC executives said their arrangement was above board 
PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG
Holding the line: Zotus City developers with President Boko during the official opening of Global Expo Botswana 2025. Last week, the Zotus officials and senior BITC executives said their arrangement was above board PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG

The Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) and Zotus Group have shot down allegations that the $50 billion Gantsi smart city project is a sham, instead reaffirming both parties’ determination to see it become a reality.

Since the announcement of the Zotus group’s plans, criticism has erupted over the planned financial scale of the project as well as the technicalities, such as a lack of water and infrastructure in the planned area.

More serious doubts have been raised about the backgrounds, experience and fidelity of the Zotus Group promoters, as well as the extent to which the BITC has committed government, either financially, physically in terms of land access or in terms of lending the country’s hard-fought global brand equity to untested project partners.

Editor's Comment
Human rights are sacred

It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.It is time for both government and the...

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