President Mokgweetsi Masisi has expressed optimism that the Airport City Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Gaborone has the potential to grow the economy, with investors expected to put P2 billion on the strategically positioned economic zone that is being set at a cost of P700 million. Dr Masisi said when launching the Airport City SEZ that it presents significant opportunities for growing the local economy as the government seeks to diversify away from mineral dependence.
He said the government has to date invested around P700m in developing infrastructure at Airport City SEZ, saying this includes high end road networks, stormwater drainage systems, primary and sewer water networks, electrical power reticulation, telecommunication networks, and streetlighting.
“On today’s groundbreaking ceremony, I will be launching a P198 million project for the construction of investor ready warehouses to accommodate early SEZ investors. I am happy to note that our investment into the development of the SEZs has started generating Return on Investment (ROI),” said Masisi on Thursday.
Masisi said the Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA) is talking to some mega investors operating in the SEZ-regulated industries, namely: internationally traded services, manufacturing, agribusiness and warehousing as well as freight and logistics across the different Special Economic Zones.
“The anticipated investors will inject over P2 billion and create over 1000 direct jobs. These companies operate in the automotive, diamond beneficiation, genomics and precision medicine, pharmaceutical, MICE, and freight and logistics sectors,” he said.
He said in May 2011, the Government took a deliberate decision to develop the Special Economic Zones Policy for Botswana the
purpose of which was to give impetus to the roll out of the exercise of diversifying the economic and export base of Botswana into sectors that would continue to grow long after diamonds have run out.
He said the policy sets forth its guiding principles, which most critically include Competitiveness and Attraction of Investment Flows; Diversification; Business Clustering; and Efficiency.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Trade and Industry Mmusi Kgafela said as part of Phase 1 of the development of the Airport SEZ, government has spent P112 245 440 million on numerous projects that included a 1.8 km six lane dual carriage way, storm water drainage, and streetlighting.
Kgafela said Phase 2 the Airport City SEZ development, which started in August 2023, will include an additional 16km road network, a second sewer lift station, relocation of services along airport road etc.
“This project will cost over P579 681 936 million . It is expected to be completed by 31 July 2025. In both phases, we utilised the services of local contractors and created over 700 employment opportunities,” said Kgafela.
Partnerships
SEZA Board Chair Rorisang Modikana hailed the collaboration between SEZA and Gaborone local authorities in leading to the successful launch of Airport City SEZ.
She said through city, town and district councils, local authorities are at the forefront of economic development as they are responsible for granting approvals for planning, building permissions and occupation permits.
Modikana said both SEZA and local authorities recognized that a mutually beneficial working relationship was the special ingredient required for the efficient facilitation of the SEZ investors.
“The Mayor’s Forum has facilitated referral of investors to different localities; boosted infrastructure and property development and enabled delivery of investor friendly SEZs in our localities,” said Modikana.