Namibia and Botswana have discussed implementing no-stop border posts to facilitate seamless trade and the smooth movement of people.
Presidents Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and Duma Boko held discussions at State House on Friday following Boko’s one-day work visit to Namibia.
“The direction we’re going into is no longer one-stop border posts. The language now is ‘no-stop’ border posts. We will ensure goods move seamlessly and move our economy, because it is critical,” Boko said during the visit.
To ensure this, he said regular meetings and discussions are needed.
Boko said the aim is to increase the volume of quality intra-Africa trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement and in the context of the southern regional agreements that should be operationalised.
This requires the opening up of channels of engagement, infrastructure, and trade corridors, he said.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said progress updates must be regularly discussed to ensure implementation serve both countries.
The president said the two countries will be collaborating in many areas as per their bilateral commitment.
Key sectors include trade, tourism, infrastructure development and natural resource management, as well as collaboration on logistics.
“We can no longer call our neighbouring countries ‘landlocked’ countries, but rather ‘sea-link’ countries. This is why we’ve made Walvis Bay a strategic gateway in the region — open to all our neighbours,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
Minister of industries, mines and energy Modestus Amutse at the occasion urged his counterpart, Botswana’s minister of minerals and energy, Bogolo Kenewendo, to ensure beneficiation for all citizens and to stop focusing on the diamond sector only.
He said minerals like lithium ore and others have the potential to supplement the struggling diamond sector and could contribute largely to the economy.
Kenewendo said Botswana will engage more on fuel sector, which she believes would have a huge impact on both economies.
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