Botswana’s president seeks to strengthen trade relations with Namibia

President Duma Boko of Botswana says part of his country’s plans with Namibia is to strengthen trade between both counties.

He says he also wants to strengthen bilateral relations with Namibia, rooted in shared history and economic goals established by the first political leaders of both nations.

During his courtesy visit to president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at State House on Friday, discussions focused on trade, bilateral relations, and strengthening regional cooperation.

This is not Duma’s first visit to Namibia. He first visited last October to co-chair the Second Bi-National Commission summit in Windhoek with Nandi-Ndaitwah, where they reviewed progress and identified new areas for cooperation.

He also attended Nandi-Ndaitwah’s inauguration in March 2025.

During their discussions with the delegations from both countries, Boko emphasised the importance of continuing such engagements to advance the economic collaboration agenda of both nations.

Duma stressed that both nations will persist in their collaboration to establish a joint oil refinery for regional growth and energy security, calling for ongoing updates on progress and challenges encountered.

“I have agreed that we will have regular contact with each other. We will call each other up on the phone. We will meet as regularly as required to drive our agenda of deep economic collaboration,” he said.

Duma emphasised that this must occur within the larger framework of enhancing intra-African trade, aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement and relevant regional agreements.

“We want to operationalise. This requires us to open up channels of engagement, infrastructure and trade corridors, facilitating movement and ease of movement of goods and persons between our countries,” he said.

He added that the Mamuno and Trans-Kalahari border posts should be more seamless, as they seek to deploy technology, because the direction they are going is no longer a one-stop border.

“The language now is a no-stop border, and we will have a single window. We will ensure that goods move freely, move seamlessly, move our economies, and move the diet. This is critical, so to ensure that this happens, we need to meet regularly. We need to reflect on progress,” he emphasised.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.