Botswana and Mauritius to strengthen Trade Relations

Mauritius's Economic Development Board (EDB) is on a mission to make Botswana one of its major trading partners. Led by their Chairman Hemraj Ramnial, representatives of the board were recently in the country in search of opportunities for collaboration with local businesses. Although the two countries are fellow SADC member states, figures show that trade between them is low. For instance, the value of Mauritius’ imports from Botswana, mostly textiles, stood at US$19,000 in 2021. In the same year, Botswana imported goods worth US$1.6 million from Mauritius, mainly machinery followed by pharmaceutical products. [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="1,2,3,4" ihc_mb_template="3" ] According to Ramnial a part of the purpose of their visit was to address the perception that Mauritius is only about sugar, tourism and financial services. “It is beyond that,” he said in an interview with The Business Weekly & Review . “We have different sectors like engineering, furniture-making, transportation and stationery.” Before coming to Botswana, the EDB had been on a similar mission to two of the East African nations, being Kenya and Tanzania. “The purpose is to look for collaboration opportunities,” Ramnial explained. “We have seen the potential of imports from Mauritius to Botswana and vice versa.” The leader of the Mauritian delegation acknowledged that trade between the two countries is low, hence the mission to leverage existing strengths and explore opportunities. EDB Director - Industry Sector, Geerish Bucktowonsing, added that the objective is to connect the island of Mauritius with the rest of Africa. “We now have the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and need to walk the talk,” he said. To achieve trade with the continent currently stands at just 15 percent, compared with over 60 percent with Europe. For this reason, Bucktowonsing believes there should be an exchange between countries on capacity building and other issues. “There are many products where we can connect beautiful Botswana with magic Mauritius, be it in the world of industry which is very important for Africa, or tourism and capacity building,” he said. Mmantlha Sankoloba, who is the president of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), noted that the visit by the EDB delegation comes at a time when Botswana is trying to diversify its economy. “Botswana is known for its successes in the mineral sector,” she told The Business Weekly & Review . “However, this is not how we want our story unfolding as a country with so much potential, hence our interactions with countries that have done well in diversifying their economies such as Mauritius.” Sankoloba also serves as CEO of Botswana Exporters and Manufacturers Association (BEMA). She noted that Mauritius started as an agriculture-led economy, particularly in the sugar cane industry. “However, today they have become more diversified with only 1.3 million people,” she pointed out. “It has been quite an interesting story in terms of learning how they have done it and identifying potential areas of investment and potential areas of trade between each other.” Sankoloba emphasised that to take advantage of opportunities offered by the AfCFTA, it is important to identify areas where Botswana and Mauritius can collaborate. What Botswana can learn from Mauritius? The leader of the delegation Bucktowonsing said there are lessons that Botswana can learn from their country’s successful economic diversification inspite of Mauritius’ relatively small population. “We know that we are a small country but what we have been focusing on is that we have to satisfy clients,” he asserted. “We manufacture for clients and listen to them. We put a lot of effort into innovation.” More importantly, he said, the island state has been successful in economic diversification because of its fast implementation of projects. “We cannot have an idea and fail to implement it because we know it’s an opportunity lost,” Bucktowonsing said. “That is why we were one of the first countries to take advantage of AGOA, the African Growth and Opportunity Act. You need to take risks in order to gain the necessary success.” Sankoloba agreed that Botswana has been quite slow in risk-taking. “We have had quite a number of agreements such as the AGOA that has been around for a number of years, but it is a pity that we have not done so well in taking advantage of it,” she admitted. “And again, we have not yet ratified the AfCFTA.” The Economic Development Board (EDB) of Mauritius recently held the Mauritius – Africa Trade and Investment Forum, at Hilton Hotel, Gaborone. Botswana on the 20 th to the 21 st of October 2022. The event was aimed at tightening trade relations between Botswana and Mauritius and to also provide networking opportunities. The Minister of Trade, Mmusi Kgafela was the Guest speaker at the event. Other speakers lined up are Mmantlha Sankoloba, President of the OACPS Business Forum, Hemraj Ramnial, Chairman of the Economic Development Board of Mauritius and Geerish Bucktowonsing, Director of Industry - EDB The mandate of EDB is to, inter alia, provide strong institutional support for strategic economic planning and ensure greater coherence and effectiveness in economic policy formulation; promote Mauritius as an attractive investment and business centre, a competitive export platform as well as an International Financial Centre (IFC); act as the main institution responsible for country branding for investment promotion; and facilitate both inward and outward investment and ensure a conducive business environment. As an apex body operating under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, the EDB is responsible to drive research projects and lead initiatives with other stakeholders and address issues such as mismatch in the education and labour system; the impact of an ageing population; the adoption of technology and innovation; infrastructural development; and the opening of the economy, amongst others. [/ihc-hide-content]

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Botswana and Mauritius to strengthen Trade Relations

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