mmegi

‘David and Goliath’ reach a gentleman’s agreement

Combining forces: Presidents Masisi and Ramaphosa with their respective trade ministers at last week’s meeting 
PIC: BITC FACEBOOK
Combining forces: Presidents Masisi and Ramaphosa with their respective trade ministers at last week’s meeting PIC: BITC FACEBOOK

From decades of living in the economic shadow of South Africa, Trade Minister, Mmusi Kgafela says an agreement has been reached to not compete but cooperate towards industrialisation. His counterpart, Ebrahim Patel, says the bigger prize is working together to replace the trillions Africa spends on imports. Staff Writers, MBONGENI MGUNI and PAULINE DIKUELO report

The matter of South Africa’s economic dominance of Botswana and other Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member states has boiled under the surface of various meetings between the regional neighbours over the decades.

COVID-19 sharply brought the debate to the fore.

Editor's Comment
The State apparatus must be sanitised

When the State cannot rely on its own machinery to pursue suspected wrongdoing, repairing that machinery must become a national priority.The establishment of a Special Investigations and Asset Recovery Task Force may help government respond to the immediate challenge. However, Botswana cannot afford to leave the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) struggling whilst building...

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