Botswana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Filda Kereng, called for deepening trade ties between the two countries.
Kerengu made the call while addressing participants at the southern African country’s 58th National Day celebrations in Abuja on Monday night.
Botswana achieved independence on September 30, 1966.
The High Commissioner said Nigeria has been an important partner to Botswana since October 17, 2018, when the two countries signed an agreement to deepen cultural and diplomatic relations.
According to her, the two countries need to move forward through business cooperation in terms of trade in people.
Keren said, “Both countries have economic strength, so I want us to join hands and lead the African continent.”
“Nigeria has a lot of enterprising trade. When Nigerians want to do business, they show resilience against all difficulties to achieve the goals set.
“We are also looking at a very vibrant creative sector.
“We have talented people who can grow even when they are not working and can tap into the film, food, fashion and music industries where Nigeria is leading.
“We will leverage concrete projects and business connections between Nigeria and Botswana to advance business relations and deepen trade cooperation.”
The envoy condemned the low level of trade between the two countries and said more efforts were needed to build economic advantages between the two countries.
“We are looking at opportunities to source creative skills from Nigeria in the development of more products, especially cosmetics and textiles. We also want to leverage such skills and build capacity through it. I am thinking of doing so.
“Therefore, there is not much we are working on together in terms of imports and exports at the moment, but we need to develop those that we think have potential.
“Nigerians can also learn from Botswana’s livestock and beef production, which is often exported to European countries to further develop the country’s economy.
“We will continue to work together in the beef production sector and Nigeria can now invest in training its citizens in the creative sector,” she added.
In an interview, Namibian High Commissioner to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Humphrey Gaisebu, praised the economic growth in the Botswana sub-region.
“Botswana is probably the most prolific diamond producing country in the world and this is good for Africa.
“I am proud of the achievements that Botswana has achieved,” said Mr Gaiseb.
(South)
