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Botswana seeks to escape middle income trap

Published

5 years ago

September 14, 2018

The private sector has been urged to re-position itself to assist the country escape the middle income trap.

This refers to a situation where countries that have attained a certain level of development find it difficult to make the leap required to become advanced economies.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi made the call during a question and answer session dubbed, Conversation with the President at the just ended 15th National Business Conference. The biennial gathering was held under the theme: Breakthrough to a high income Botswana, The role of the private sector in charting the way.

President Masisi explained that government was doing its part through enrolling more students on technical courses and encouraging the use of information technology in the delivery of services.

In addition, he highlighted that while government was addressing the problem of skills mismatch, the private sector should also play its part in this regard. As a way of positioning the country’s transition to a high income status, President Masisi also explained that global partners were going to be key in this objective as evidenced by the P340 million grant from China for key infrastructural projects that facilitate business innovation.

In this regard, President Masisi highlighted that government was also looking at increasing the number of science and engineering graduates and attaching them in innovative organisations in developed economies.

Furthermore, President Masisi noted that a high income status would only come about when Botswana improved her productivity levels, the quality of education, innovation, developed the financial sector and diversified her economy away from diamonds.

“I urge the private sector to up its game with regards to efforts aimed at economic diversification,” he added.

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Kenya: Parliament approves appointment of Kamau Thugge as central bank governor

Published

17 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Months after throwing open the position for the country’s top banker, Kenya’s parliament has approved the appointment of Kamau Thugge as the country’s central bank governor.

The National Assembly on Wednesday approved the
appointment of economist and senior civil servant who was nominated by President William Ruto as the next apex bank chief.

Thugge, who served as principal secretary in the finance ministry until mid-2018, was nominated after serving as one of the president’s senior economic advisers since late last year.

He shook off competition from others shortlisted candidates like Adan Mohamed, who served in the cabinet from 2013-2022, with four others also interviewed for the role.

The new central bank governor will be faced with the immediate pressure of stabilizing the country’s monetary policy as the East African giant currently faces a shortage of funds amidst rising public debt.

Despite the odds, the World Bank in a report earlier today expects growth to edge up to 5.0% in 2023, underpinned by a recovery in agriculture.

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Ghana presents ‘working proposal’ for debt restructuring— IMF sources

Published

17 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

West African country, Ghana has made a major move at resolving its debt crisis as the country has presented debt restructuring proposal to its creditors.

According to sources quoted by Reuters, a “working proposal” has been submitted to help the country escape its worst economic crisis in a generation.

One of the sources revealed that the proposal was a first attempt to engage the official creditor committee after its formation in May. It should be recalled that the Paris Club last month announced that official sector of creditors of Ghana had formed a committee co-chaired by China and France for debt restructuring talks.

The plan is to end restructuring of domestic debt before turning to negotiations with its official bilateral creditors and international bondholders, a government official said.

Ghana is one of several cash-strapped countries facing unprecedented delays in getting bailouts as China, its biggest bilateral creditor with about $1.7 billion of debt and Western economies disagree over how debt relief should be structured.

The first formal review of the programme will hold in the coming months as an IMF team will visit Ghana between 8th and 15th of June.