Botswana’s transit routes: The ‘hidden’ treasure

• Financial benefits include forex earnings in excess of P1.0bn per annum with potential for more

• There are support centres (truck stops) mainly owned by citizen-controlled entities along the routes

• Over 500 Batswana are in direct employment along the transit routes

For ease of appreciation, a comparison of Namibia’s Walvis Bay port facilities is most appropriate. For Namibia, the Walvis Bay port is a national pride and asset that was built over the years to take advantage of its geographical positioning and alignment of this positioning with global traffic.