- Deputy Mayor of the Francistown says people’s livelihoods are exposed sans insurance
FRANCISTOWN: In this era of natural disasters, the role of the insurance industry is critical to the pursuit of communities’ strategic developmental goals, the Deputy Mayor of the Francistown, Lesego Kwambala, said recently.
Speaking at the launch of a local branch of Phoenix of Botswana Assurance Company here, Kwambala said the impact of the insurance industry on the city’s fiscus is immeasurable. “There are many challenges we are faced with locally, nationally and globally, such as climate change and pandemics like COVID-19 that impact livelihoods and the economy,” said Kwambala.
There is no doubt that insurance is a critical to protection of the investment that cities and countries make in infrastructure and creation of an inclusive economy, the Deputy Mayor, who is the Councillor for Itekeng, said. “Without a sound insurance industry, people’s livelihoods and economic development are threatened,” Kwambala emphasised. He said Francistown has been at the centre of the economic development of Botswana as the hub of mining in the northern part of the mining nation that is a gateway to tourism destinations.
“Insurance is a key strategic pillar in infrastructure development, which is one area that has been lagging behind in our city,” Kwambala noted, adding that investments in the municipality by companies like Phoenix of Botswana are welcome. Meanwhile, while officially opening the 16th National Business Conference here earlier in the week, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said Botswana is grappling with the downside of the restrictive measures that economies around the world implemented to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The President identified global supply chain bottlenecks that lead to delays in the delivery of inputs for production as one such effect that constrains economic activity after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. As if that was not enough, he said, war broke out early this year between Russia and Ukraine, resulting in increases in prices of petrol, transportation, food and other commodities. Consequently, a rise in the cost of living has seen inflation in Botswana reach 14.6 percent in August 2022, the highest rate since December 2008 when it was at 13.7 percent, the President noted.
