Botswana is pitching itself as a gateway for Nigerian businesses seeking access to the 16-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), with officials using the Botswana-Nigeria Business Forum to showcase the country’s investment climate, preferential market access under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and opportunities in manufacturing, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals and logistics.
Speaking at the recently held Botswana–Nigeria Business and Investment Forum, Manager for Export Promotion and Development at the Botswana Investment and Trade Center (BITC) Calvin Ketshabetswe, said Nigerian businesses could trade and invest in Botswana while using the country as a production and distribution hub for the wider Southern African market. He highlighted Botswana as not just another export destination, arguing that the country’s strategic location, stable investment climate and preferential market access make it an ideal base for companies looking to expand across the region under AfCFTA.
“Botswana offers a stable, high-income gateway into SADC and the Southern African Customs Union,” Ketshabetswe said.
He said both Botswana and Nigeria have gazetted their provisional schedules of tariff concessions, enabling qualifying products to trade under AfCFTA’s preferential rules once they satisfy the agreement’s Rules of Origin requirements. However, Ketshabetswe stressed that the continental free trade agreement extends beyond tariff reductions by addressing non-tariff barriers, trade facilitation, investment and digital trade, creating conditions for businesses to establish regional value chains instead of simply exporting goods across borders.
BITC’s proposition is that Nigerian manufacturers and agro-processors can establish operations in Botswana and use the country as a gateway into both the SADC market and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), while Botswana companies gain reciprocal market access into the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) through Nigeria.
While trade between Botswana and Nigeria remains relatively small, BITC believes the relationship has significant room for expansion under AfCFTA. Botswana’s exports to Nigeria peaked at approximately $1.4 million in 2023 before declining to $147,000 in 2024. Botswana’s imports from Nigeria also fell from $376,000 in 2023 to $161,000 last year.
Botswana’s exports to Nigeria are currently dominated by wooden office furniture valued at $54,000, followed by raw hides and skins worth $34,000, leather products ($10,000), raw swine hides and skins ($9,000) and machinery parts ($9,000). Imports from Nigeria are led by commodities ($57,000), medicaments ($33,000), hair preparations ($8,000), human hair products ($7,000) and beauty or make-up preparations ($5,000).
Ketshabetswe argued that these relatively low trade volumes should not be viewed as a limitation but rather as evidence of untapped potential. With preferential market access, reduced trade costs and stronger commercial partnerships, BITC believes bilateral trade can expand rapidly under AfCFTA while moving into higher-value manufacturing and value-added production.
To strengthen its investment proposition, BITC highlighted a range of fiscal and regulatory incentives designed to attract regional manufacturers and investors. These include a preferential 15 percent corporate tax rate for manufacturers, International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) entities and innovation hub companies, compared to the standard 22 percent rate, tax holidays of up to 10 years under the Development Approval Order, and tax rebates of up to 200 percent. Investors can also benefit from customs and VAT rebates on imported machinery and raw materials, while Special Economic Zones offer additional incentives including corporate tax rates as low as five percent, transfer duty exemptions and long-term land leases.
Identified immediate opportunities for Nigerian investors in agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, personal care and cosmetics, textiles and apparel, light manufacturing, logistics, fintech and digital services. Opportunities in mining and mineral beneficiation, renewable energy, tourism, agribusiness and business services, sectors that align with Botswana’s economic diversification agenda and government priorities, were also promoted.
Government priority areas presented to delegates included energy security and renewable transition, logistics infrastructure, digital transformation, healthcare, mining and agriculture, with Botswana positioning these sectors as areas where Nigerian capital, technology and expertise could support national development while creating regional export platforms.
“These priority sectors align with Botswana’s demand, support diversification and unlock opportunities across the SADC and AfCFTA markets,” Ketshabetswe pointed out.
The investment proposition received a positive response from the Nigerian delegation. Patience Okala, National Coordinator of the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, said the focus should now be on equipping businesses to participate effectively in continental trade so they can fully benefit from opportunities created under AfCFTA. Providing an entrepreneur’s perspective, Le Look Nigeria Limited Chief Executive Officer Chinwe Ezanwa, the first entrepreneur to export under AfCFTA, shared her experience in the bags manufacturing industry and expressed readiness to explore investment opportunities and partnerships with Botswana businesses.
Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Botswana, John Shama Shaga, said he hoped the Botswana-Nigeria trade mission model would be replicated across other African countries as a blueprint for strengthening intra-African trade and investment.
