Government struggles with project implementation

Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Bogolo Kenewendo said government should look at the implementation exercise to develop the economy. There are many good policies and initiatives by the government that are not implemented while in many cases some ministries return the funds to the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. Commenting on the recent budget speech, the trade minister highlighted that government should be more concerned about the delivery of the projects. “The challenge is really not the allocation but the implementation. Year in, year out, we see some funds returned to the Ministry of Finance; we hope this year we will focus more on implementation, monitoring and evaluation,” said Kenewendo. Government should also allow the private sector to participate in development projects such as infrastructure development. “Government alone can not capitalize everything so the private sector should be allowed to participate in capitalization, designing and building of infrastructure projects,” said Kenewendo, adding that currently the Ministry of Investment Trade and Industry is working on attracting international investors. Presenting the 2019 Budget speech, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Kenneth Matambo said government is keen on promoting inclusive growth and equitable distribution of wealth through giving citizens the opportunity to have ownership through privatization of profit making public enterprise. The finance minister also stated that there is need for continuous reform in the business environment especially on issues of work ethics, access to finance and reports of corruption in the country. “These are areas that the country should continue to focus its efforts on, in order to maintain and improve its international economic rankings, “said Matambo. He noted that the country has already put in place measures to address some of the concerns about doing business in the country, which include the Doing Business Reforms Roadmap, which has been adopted last year. Among the initiatives in the roadmap is the review of some laws such as the Trade Act, Customs Act and Companies Act. However, Matambo said the review of the Trade Act to facilitate the process of starting a business in Botswana will be prioritised during 2019 as it was identified to be a significant challenge.