Botswana: African Development Bank Group pledges $180 million to bolster post-Covid-19 economic recovery | African Development Bank

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a $179.66 million loan to support government reforms to restore fiscal stability and economic recovery after the pandemic.

Funding for Phase II of the program will build on the successes of the first phase by supporting policies designed to boost economic recovery, further facilitate private sector participation in the economy and promote climate-smart agriculture and industrial development. promote. These include various revenue-enhancing measures, the establishment of a public procurement regulator and the facilitation of public-private partnerships.

The program will also boost private-sector led agriculture and industrial transformation. It will achieve this through the adoption of a national agricultural development and transformation policy, the establishment of a meat industry regulatory body and improvement of the investment facilitation regime.

To increase resilience and social inclusion, the program will strengthen the policy framework for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), promote the adoption of technical and vocational training policies and roll out a single social register.

Botswana’s economy remains largely undiversified in terms of exports. In recent decades, the country has followed a natural resource-based model that relies heavily on diamond mining. The country has a large public sector. Still, Botswana enjoys satisfactory macroeconomic stability despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The program will directly benefit various ministries, departments and agencies of the government. Prominent among these are the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Minerals and Energy, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, as well as the Treasury Department and the agencies charged with overseeing private sector development. Businesses, including MSMEs, will benefit, especially those in agriculture and industry. The program is also expected to have a positive impact at national level, especially for women and youth.

The program is in line with the Bank Group’s ten-year strategy (2013-2022) and its High Five strategic priorities, in particular Industrialize Africa and Improve the quality of life of the people of Africa.