FOCAC is a cooperative platform established by China and friendly African countries for collective consultation, dialogue and cooperation mechanism between the developing countries which falls into the category of South-South cooperation.
The main idea behind FOCAC is centered on ethos of pragmatic cooperation with the purpose of strengthening consultation and expanding cooperation characterised by the promotion of political dialogue, economic cooperation and trade. The theme for the just ended Dakar FOCAC meeting was 'Deepening China-Africa Partnership and Promoting Sustainable Development to Build a China- Africa Community with a Shared Future in the New Era'. There were some key points that were raised by the President of China during his keynote address which I am of a strong view that Botswana, which has enjoyed diplomatic relations with China since 1975 and continues to enjoy strong trade relations with China, has the potential to make some gains.
The key areas highlighted by President Xi are fighting COVID-19 with solidarity, deepening practical cooperation, promoting green development and upholding unity and justice. On the medical and health programme, China promised to provide one billion doses of vaccines to Africa which includes six hundred million doses as donation and another four hundred million to be provided through such means as joint production by Chinese companies and relevant African countries. This programme provides an opportunity for Botswana which have enjoyed healthy diplomatic relations with China for the past 46 years to strategically position herself so as to benefit from this programme.
Areas which Botswana can work hard to cooperate with China within this programme is on scientific research partnership that can result in the establishment of a National Medical Research Centre, which can go a long way in helping Botswana to produce her own vaccines/drugs with a long-term aim of reducing dependency on foreign countries for medical assistance thus ensuring health security for the citizens.
This scientific programme can be utilised under the 10 medical and health projects which China has outlined for African countries as well as the provision of more than 1,000 medical and health experts to Africa.
The other area which I think strategic planners from Botswana should give serious attention is the poverty reduction and agricultural development programme. As a way of ensuring food security, Botswana should utilise its close ties with China to benefit from the 10 poverty reduction and agricultural projects for Africa and the 500 agricultural experts from China to Africa.
This is a time for Botswana to reinvent its agricultural institutions such as Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Botswana Vaccine Institute so that they enjoy proposed joint partnerships in modern agro-technology exchange, building of demonstration villages for China-Botswana cooperation on agriculture and related agro-programmes. Such partnerships can go a long way in revolutionising agriculture from its over reliance on subsistence farming to full scale commercial farming that has the potential not only to boost the economy but provide employment opportunities for the youth especially in the rural areas.
The third area which Botswana has the potential to gain is the digital innovation programme where China will undertake 10 digital economy projects for Africa. As our leaders are always preaching the Fourth Industrial Revolution (knowledge based economy) opportunities for cooperation with China on satellite remote-sensing application, joint laboratories, partner institutes, scientific and technological innovation bases should be fully explored by the political leadership of Botswana so that entities like Botswana Digital and Innovation Hub, educational institutions such as universities and technical colleges, small and medium scale businesses, performing arts, etc can benefit as part of Botswana-China cooperation in expanding Silk Road e-commerce cooperation, holding of online shopping festivals and tourism e-commerce promotion activities.
This will surely be initial steps towards the realisation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. There are other programmes such as the green development programme which if explored and utilised fully Botswana can mitigate against climate change through green technology. Cooperation in green technology has the potential to assist in the success of the establishment of an electric car manufacturing plant which our political leadership has always been preaching about, thus creating employment.
The capacity building programme which was also put on the table by China for Africa includes cooperation on vocational education. With Botswana’s vocational training not being utilised to full capacity due to resource constraints and to some extent neglect, it is important for Botswana to find ways to cooperate with China to capacitate our Vocational Training Centers to become centers of excellence when it comes to education with production because these institutions have the potential to produce graduates who can later create employment to people in areas such as construction, carpentry, plumbing, etc.
To sum it up, the just ended FOCAC Meeting in Dakar provides Botswana with a plethora of potential gains that this country can get from the various programmes that China has put on the table for Africa.
The most important thing for Botswana to understand is that there are many other countries that are also in the race to benefit from such initiatives. In this case, it is essential for Botswana to think and act strategically and promptly, and our leadership should work around the clock to come up with a solid strategy of deep engagement and dialogue with China at all levels involving different stakeholders for it to stay ahead of her peers so as to make some serious strategic gains and boost her socio-economic status.
It will be a serious strategic blunder for Botswana not to spring into action and not gain anything from what the President of China, His Excellency Xi has put on the table at the FOCAC Meeting in Dakar.
