Private sector ready to drive economic transformation

The private sector has urged the government to address several structural and systemic barriers over the medium to long term, particularly long-standing but unresolved constraints. Following President Duma Boko’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) last week, his second since assuming office, the private sector, through its advocacy body Business Botswana, outlined key reforms that government must prioritise as it pursues a private-sector-led economy. Business Botswana Acting CEO Mpaphi Tsholofelo said the private sector development strategy stresses the need to systematically address legislative and procedural bottlenecks through reviving Botswana’s Doing Business Framework and implementing the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA). “This includes streamlining investment licensing, reducing approval timelines for business registration, and harmonising trade regulations to align with regional economic communities as the country positions itself as a transit hub for SADC’s approximately 340-million-person market,” Tsholofelo said. He highlighted the importance of financial sector accessibility, noting that the private sector requires expanded access to competitively priced long-term financing instruments, stronger credit guarantee schemes beyond the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme, and capital market tools that allow businesses to tap into diverse funding sources without government subsidisation. “The government's fiscal constraints mean private enterprises cannot rely indefinitely on state support, sustainable financing mechanisms must be institutionalised,” he said. “Secondly, skills alignment between workforce supply and industry demand requires medium- to long-term institutional reform.” While government plans to roll out STEAM-driven curriculum reforms across education levels starting January 2026, the private sector wants faster modernisation of the TVET system and stronger industry–education partnerships to ensure training reflects real market needs. Business Botswana says the current 38 percent youth unemployment rate highlights a severe mismatch between training outputs and employer requirements. Tsholofelo said infrastructure development must extend beyond flagship projects to strengthen secondary and tertiary road networks, water supply systems, and digital backbone infrastructure across all regions. “The North-South and Trans-Kalahari corridors require continuous investment to maintain competitive advantage as a regional trade hub,” he said. He added that the government must accelerate governance reforms by strengthening the anti-corruption framework through the operationalisation of an independent DCEC, improving public sector accountability, enhancing procurement transparency through e-procurement, and resolving payment delays to contractors. He said the private sector development strategy also emphasises the need for government to cede appropriate functions to private entities, rather than maintaining state-owned enterprise monopolies in sectors where competitive private provision would be more efficient. “Strategic restructuring of state-owned enterprises must follow commercial, not political, logic,” he said. Business Botswana welcomed National Development Plan (NDP) 12, which is anchored on a strong private sector economy. Tsholofelo said the organisation has consistently argued during NDP12 consultations that while the private sector is willing and ready to drive transformation, meaningful structural reforms must accompany policy statements. He said readiness depends on several enabling conditions. “First, the private sector requires predictable and transparent regulatory frameworks. The government’s plan to strengthen the Public-Private Partnership framework through enhanced legal and governance structures is critical to institutionalising trust,” he said. He also stressed that readiness requires adequate access to land and natural resources. Government’s commitment to “unlock land” through reforms and through Special Economic Zones in Selibe-Phikwe (horticulture), Lobatse (beef and leather), and Pandamatenga (agriculture), he said, provides essential investment platforms. “Private investors cannot flourish if resource access remains constrained by bureaucratic procedures,” he said. “Further, private sector readiness for employment generation depends on the government's simultaneous investment in human capital.” Business Botswana believes the Presidential Youth Empowerment Campaign—aimed at developing 1,000 promising candidates and expanding to 10,000 through partnerships with UNICEF and UN bodies—is an appropriate focus. However, the organisation says sustained skills development across TVET institutions, universities, and technical colleges requires long-term institutional funding rather than project-based approaches. Business Botswana has also outlined proposed measures to enable private-sector growth. These include accelerated implementation of the Public-Private Partnership framework with a fully resourced PPP Unit; systematic removal of regulatory barriers through review of licensing and investment procedures; expansion of Special Economic Zones with transparent bidding processes and clear fiscal incentives; establishment of sector-specific clusters with shared infrastructure; and quarterly sectoral dialogue forums to resolve implementation bottlenecks. The organisation also calls for stronger protection of property rights through faster commercial dispute resolution, and for tax certainty through multi-year tax frameworks that reduce business uncertainty. Government plans to invest nearly P400 billion in infrastructure projects under NDP12—one of the most ambitious programmes in Botswana’s history. Tsholofelo said Business Botswana views this investment as a major opportunity but also a source of significant implementation challenges. “The breadth of infrastructure investment across energy, transport, health, education, water, and digital transformation addresses critical sectoral constraints that have hindered private sector productivity,” he said. He noted that energy projects targeting 900 MW of solar PV and 600 MW of thermal capacity will strengthen electricity security and reduce operational costs, while improvements to key transport corridors (A3 and A1 roads, rail systems) will reduce logistics costs. Water infrastructure will enhance domestic and agricultural supply. Tsholofelo added that the government’s embrace of public-private partnerships acknowledges that public resources alone cannot finance the P400 billion programme. About 10 percent of funding is expected from PPPs, community contributions, institutional investors, and donor financing. However, he warned that the P400 billion target appears “significantly misaligned” with realistic public resource availability, creating risks of project delays, cancellations, or unsustainable debt that could crowd out private investment. Business Botswana therefore advocates rigorous project prioritisation using cost-benefit analysis, employment impact assessments, and criteria that reflect private sector return on investment.

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Private sector ready to drive economic transformation

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