Private Sector Joins Hands with Government to Drive Botswana’s Economic Transformation

Today, August 1st 2025, marked a powerful message of partnership, urgency, and reform echoed through the halls of the Bank of Botswana Auditorium in Gaborone. The government and private sector leaders convened for a high-level stakeholder engagement on the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP). The engagement, hosted by the Bank of Botswana in collaboration with PEMANDU Associates, was graced by the Vice President and Minister of Finance, Honourable Gaolatlhe Nkosinathi Ndaba, who delivered the keynote address.

The event brought together captains of industry, CEOs, sector leaders, and business associations, including a strong delegation from Business Botswana, led by our President, Mr. Neo Nwako, and CEO, Mr. Norman Moleele. The auditorium was filled to capacity, a testament to the private sector’s growing commitment to co-owning Botswana’s economic transformation journey.

In a his speech, Vice President Ndaba called for courage, disruption, and collaboration, stating:“This is our moment to confront complacency with courage, to disrupt, to dare, and to deliver. Transformation will not be government-driven alone. It will be built in your boardrooms, your factories, your farms, your labs.”

The Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP), designed around PEMANDU’s Big Fast Results methodology, aims to fast-track reforms, catalyze investments, and dismantle systemic inefficiencies within a compressed 12-week action window. According to the Vice President, this programme will inform the next National Development Plan, pivoting the country from “paper plans to performance blueprints.”

The private sector, in turn, responded with clarity and resolve. Business Botswana’s leadership emphasized the need for mutual trust, continuous reform, and the revival of Botswana’s Doing Business Framework to ensure legislative and procedural bottlenecks are swiftly addressed. Mr. Nwako reaffirmed the Private Sector’s willingness to co-create solutions and guide national transformation efforts, urging government to “genuinely open the doors.