The Director at Africa Business Center, Michael Lalor, has commended Botswana Economic Diversification Drive as an initiative that would lead to an increase in Foreign Direct Investment.
In an interview, Lalor said Botswana remains one of Africa’s bright lights, providing a benchmark for many others in terms of political stability and economic development and transformation.
“The process of economic diversification is progressing, and this is, clearly and exactly the right focus,” said Lalor.
He said from 2003, Botswana has attracted the 14th most FDI projects in Africa, which puts it just outside the top quartile of African investment destinations.
He said over the years, FDI inflow has been mainly concentrated in consumer facing sectors such as retailing, banking and telecoms. As such, Botswana has not been that competitive as compared to other countries.
“A number of investors that we are currently engaging with are particularly interested in opportunities in consumer-facing sectors, and from that perspective there is just more interest currently in markets with higher economic growth rates and relatively much larger populations Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya,” he said. ?
Lalor said it is certainly not his view that Botswana does not offer an attractive investment destination. He said Botswana is a very important investment destination for South African firms.
“While the natural resources sector has been through a period of robust investment, it is the consumer-facing industries that will continue to drive investment and innovation over the next five years,” he said.
Lalor said if Botswana fully executes its EDD it has great potential of attracting FDI considering that has been ranked number 2 in Africa and number 4 in a comparison of all African countries with 21 prominent emerging markets from the rest of the world only behind Chile, Mauritius and Malaysia, and ahead of the likes of SA, South Korea, the UAE, Turkey, Colombia, Mexico.
