President Duma Boko has held talks with Nigerian business magnate and Dangote Group founder and CEO Aliko Dangote on opportunities to attract large-scale investment and strengthen economic cooperation between Botswana and Nigeria.
Dangote paid a courtesy call on President Boko at the Office of the President, where discussions centred on industrialisation, investment, and the need for African countries to create greater value from their own resources.
President Boko said Africa must take greater ownership of its economic development instead of continuing to export raw materials while importing basic manufactured goods.
“Africa must lead its own development. We cannot continue exporting raw materials and importing basic goods. We must build, produce, and create value on our own continent,” Boko said.
He identified implementation as one of the continent’s biggest challenges, arguing that Africa has no shortage of ideas but needs to translate those ideas into tangible projects, industries, and employment opportunities.
“Our biggest challenge is implementation. The ideas are there; now we must turn them into projects, jobs, and industries,” he said.
Boko further acknowledged that governments often face challenges not because of a lack of ideas, but because of difficulties in implementing those ideas effectively.
“For our part as government, we must face the biggest challenges that our government faces. It has not been a lack of ideas; it has been a failure to implement those ideas, which now brings us to the focal issue,” he said.
The engagement with Dangote comes as Botswana continues to position itself as an investment destination while seeking to diversify its economy, promote local production, and create sustainable employment.
Boko said the broader vision should be one in which African countries develop industries capable of processing their own resources and meeting more of the continent’s demand for goods and services.
