Gaborone, Botswana, 27 May 2025 (ECA) - The Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship of Botswana, in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa’s African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) and the Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa (SRO-SA) convened a one-day Validation Workshop of the Draft AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy for Botswana on 27 May 2025 in Gaborone.
The workshop marked a key milestone in Botswana’s efforts to develop a national strategy to implement the AfCFTA. The main objective of the workshop was to review, endorse and finalize Botswana’s AfCFTA Implementation Strategy. The strategy aims to identify Botswana’s areas of competitive advantage to support economic diversification and to identify priority value chains that can be developed to maximize the country’s trade potential under the AfCFTA framework.
Speaking when he delivered his keynote address, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Professor Goemeone Mogomotsi advised that the development of National AfCFTA Strategies is an essential step in supporting effective implementation of the Agreement while aligning it with broader national development goals and frameworks. “These strategies align the unique trade policy environments of each State Party to the AfCFTA Agreement” he added.
He underscored the fact that international trade is a key driver to national development, arguing that “Trade stimulates industrialization, increases employment, and encourages economic diversification, all of which contribute to improved livelihoods for citizens”.
Mr. Mogomotsi noted that Botswana recognizes that benefits from the AfCFTA are not automatic and that they require deliberate and strategic interventions at both national and regional levels. He observed that the AfCFTA is a significant milestone in the African regional integration agenda as it brings together fifty-five (55) African member states with a combined population of approximately 1.4 billion people and a GDP of more than 3.4 trillion US dollars.
“Through effective implementation of this Strategy, I am confident that the AfCFTA can empower Batswana and ensure that Botswana claims its rightful place in the African trade space” Mogomots added.
Speaking at the same event, Mr. Million Habte, Coordinator of AfCFTA Implementation at the AfCFTA Secretariat, commended the Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship and all stakeholders involved for the drafting of the AfCFTA National Implementation Strategy.
He reminded the meeting that the African economies are dependent on mineral exports and do face challenges due to price and demand volatility and hence the need to promote value addition. He emphasized that the AfCFTA is not just another trade agreement.
“It is a tool to build new economic pathways, in this case helping Botswana connect to new markets beyond the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), create jobs, and unlock more value across sectors like manufacturing, services, agriculture, and digital trade. This Strategy is a solid step towards making that happen,” he stressed.
Mr Habte noted that Botswana is participating in the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative, and that the implementation of the Strategy will be through the support of a National Implementation Committee (NIC). “NIC is exactly the kind of structure that works and has seen success in countries like Ghana and Rwanda,” he added.
Finally, he highlighted a few next practical steps for Botswana, key among these is the establishment of the NIC, which should have a clear role, be up and running as soon as possible with focal points clearly identified. In addition, he advised that the NIC should commence annual planning, disaggregate the Strategy into yearly, budgeted action plans that ministries and agencies can commit to. Support should be rolled out to MSMEs, and women and youth business organizations in readiness for intra African trade through access to finance, standards, digital tools, and training. The support of the AfCFTA Secretariat will be key in strengthening the capacity of MSMEs.
The ECA representative and Programme Management Officer, Mr. Batanai Chikwene, delivered the objectives of the workshop and further outlined the steps taken so far by the country which started from receiving of the request by ECA from the Government of Botswana.
Mr Chikwene said that “The process had completed the key step of stakeholder consultations to ensure that the draft strategy incorporated their views and also acknowledged the hiccups encountered along the way which has caused Botswana to take an extraordinarily long time to reach the strategy validation stage”.
Botswana Exporters and Manufacturers Association representative, Ms Mmantlha Sankoloba underlined that Botswana as a small country with an equally small domestic market requires the wider African market to support export-led manufacturing and value addition to its commodities. She expressed gratitude for the involvement of the private sector in the Strategy’s drafting process.
The ECA Consultant, Mr. Paul Kalenga, presented the Draft Botswana National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy. He outlined the key findings of situational analysis and elaborated on recommendations, emphasizing the importance of a national AfCFTA strategy for Botswana. He cautioned that “We should not be overly ambitious lest we end up overwhelmed and getting paralyzed. The strategy is a building block towards bigger things in future,” he added.
Mr Kalenga advised that the drafting process was integrative allowing the strategy to be embedded in the country’s national development plans and aligned with industrial policies, infrastructure plans, economic and social objectives. "The process was a participatory process involving all national stakeholders," he added.
Following the extensive deliberations on the content and flow of the draft strategy, the meeting agreed that participants needed time to submit further written comments on the draft Strategy. These comments should be delivered by 6 June 2025. The consultant would update the draft based on the comments after which an online meeting to review and validate the Botswana National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy and Action Plan will be convened. The workshop was attended by about 120 participants from public and private sectors, civil societies (CSOs), academia, media, and the United Nations, including UNDP and ECA.
Issued by:
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Economic Commission for Africa
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