Boko charms private sector in first face-off
Friday, March 21, 2025 | 620 Views |
Face to face: Boko at the High-Level Business Engagement on Tuesday PIC: BOTSWANA STOCK EXCHANGE FACEBOOK
With the collapse of the High-Level Consultative Forum, the country’s private sector has frequently bemoaned the detachment of government from pressing business issues. The Forum, chaired by the presidents of both the country and Business Botswana, was the premium platform for discussing interventions around the ease of doing business. Business Botswana is the country’s main business lobby group representing most of the country’s private sector.
Together with the end of Cabinet’s Doing Business sub-committee a few years ago, the private sector has felt left out in the cold, at the mercy of a rising number of regulatory institutions and tightening laws such as those around KYC, without an established platform to engage government.
That sounds like good news. But the report also warns that this may simply be because our digital economy is still young, not because we are safe. As more people shop, bank and pay online, criminals will follow.We Batswana do not need a report to tell us that danger is real. Many of us have heard of or fallen victim to KYC scams. A caller impersonates your bank or mobile money provider. They say they need to “verify” your account. They ask...