The slow descent of the once-mighty NBC

Chakalisa Dube | Monday October 24, 2022 06:00

FRANCISTOWN: Business Botswana’s biennial National Business Conference (NBC) is unquestionably the largest corporate-to-government gathering in the country.

The event, which takes place once every two years brings together senior government officials and respected corporate executives with the main goal of coming up with economic as well as business reforms to improve Botswana’s economy and competitiveness globally.

The 16th of the edition of the conference ended on Tuesday this week in the second city.

However, by all appearances, the 34-year-old NBC appears to be now devolving into a talk shop, a once important event that is fast becoming nothing more than a social event.

There is precious little evidence that the government and the private sector players who lock themselves up for days at each NBC brainstorming on various economic interventions, actually implement the ideas or resolutions that have been adopted from successive conferences. Instead, at each NBC, new proposals and economic reforms are always tabled, many of them echoing previous ideas and resolutions from past conferences.

Because the NBC is held just once every two years, it was highly expected that this year’s event would be a milestone, as public and private sector authorities would have the first chance to meet since COVID-19 broke out and shut down the economy.

The last NBC was held in 2018 and many analysts expected this week’s event to feature updates of the last conference’s resolutions, looking at their implementation, impact of the pandemic or how the economy can sustainably and pragmatically be lifted out of the COVID slump.

Instead, many left this week’s NBC with their ears ringing with rhetoric, hearts pounding with the hope that comes from hearing motivational lectures and the nagging sadness that all the talk would once again not lead to any tangible change either within the private or the public sectors.

During the 14th edition of the NBC in 2016 then President, Ian Khama made a promise to reduce business red tape and create a conducive environment for Botswana as part of actions required to reach the goal of being a high, stable non-inflationary and diversified economy. His successor, President Mokgweetsi Masisi, repeated nearly similar statements during the 2018 edition of NBC. Then, his speech was centred on the government removing barriers that have stalled the growth of the private sector and the economy. At this year’s conference, Masisi’s speech also reiterated much of what the government has said in the previous NBCs. He told delegates to use the opportunity to contribute to the review of existing policies and the regulatory environment, as well as propose new and transformative reforms.

“The government continues to launch policy reviews and legislative reforms to improve the welfare of Batswana,” the President said. “I am confident that all these will be done in the spirit of removing barriers while promoting trade and investment within and outside our borders. “I have absolutely no doubt that we can achieve these targets if we are all united in contributing to the development of this country.”

Other elements of the speech also featured flashbacks of Masisi and other government officials have said in past conferences.

Masisi could have used part of his speech to highlight what regulations and policies have been influenced by the previous conferences. He could also have shared what exactly has prevented his administration from implementing or facilitating some of the resolutions that have arisen from previous NBCs.

However, the presidents and their administrations are not solely responsible for transforming NBC into a talk shop. In fact, Masisi appears to use the conference as a dipstick to sound out his planned economic or political policies. The NBC presents the president with a roomful of the country’s finest economic and business minds and largesse of intellectual resources that can act as a perfect sounding board for proposed policy changes.

For example, during the 2018 conference President Mokgweetsi Masisi opined that the Cabinet’s efficiency could be improved by amending the law to allow for the appointment of members from outside Parliament.

It remains to be seen whether the proposal could feature in the constitutional review being finalised at the higher echelons of governance in the country.

The private sector bears some blame for turning NBC into a damp squib. At this week’s conference, First National Bank of Botswana (FNBB) CEO, Steven Bogatsu admitted that to some extent NBC does not serve its purpose and partly directed the blame to the private sector.

He posited that corporate bodies should be extremely uncomfortable with the status quo and urged his colleagues from the private sector to ensure the successful implementation of conference resolutions.

“Many of you have been here more than once. We have come up with all sorts of resolutions. “It is very unlikely that anyone here is going to tell us anything new. “Those of you who are good at record keeping will remember the many solutions previously suggested right here,” he said in remarks many analysts described as refreshingly frank.

Bogatsu added: “From the government side it has been said that we lack ruthless execution of projects. What I can say to Business Botswana is that let us in future remember to take stock of the last NBC. “What were the commitments made, what has been met, what has not been met and what were the challenges?”

Put another way, the private sector should create a well-structured strategy to ensure that the recommendations of the NBC are well executed or that there is proper feedback on the resolutions from previous conferences.

In the midst of the gloom, there is however some hope that NBC could start yielding the desired results.

When officially closing the conference the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mmusi Kgafela emphasised that focus should now be channelled on making sure that resolutions of the NBC become a reality.

“When we come back in two years’ time, we should be able to celebrate our success. “We should have implemented some if not most of the solutions we have proposed over the one-and-half days. “We should have tested and improved to ensure that they work and have turned around this economy to unexpected growth levels,” Kgafela said.

Government and private sector leaders meet again in 2024 and it remains to be seen whether Kgafela’s challenge will be met.