Botswana intends to increase its volumes of imports and exports through the port of Walvis Bay, President Hage Geingob said at the inaugural session of the Botswana Namibia Bi-National Commission.
Geingob went onto highlight that this would mean that Namibia and Botswana must jointly and speedily work together on expanding the transport infrastructure to accommodate increased trade volumes between the respective countries.
“Our Ministers must prioritize and include in our development plans, the upgrade and expansion of infrastructure to accommodate anticipated increased in trade volumes,” Geingob said further stating that the inaugural session of the Namibia – Botswana Bi-national Commission “signifies the importance that we attach to strengthening the excellent relations between our peoples and countries. Namibia and Botswana are bound together by deep-rooted cultural and historic bonds laid by our founding fathers, which we, as third wave leaders, are committed to nurture and solidify.”
Geingob further stated that he was happy to note that the two countries will be signing the Bilateral Agreement Establishing the One-Stop Border Post at the Mamuno-Trans-Kalahari Border Post, which will contribute to maximizing the operational efficiency of the SADC Transport Development Corridors, thereby contributing to our regional development and economic integration efforts.
“In the same vein, our two countries not only share a common border, but also a common people and heritage. A symbiotic and inter-dependent relationship exists along our common borders. Therefore, I call on our Senior Officials to fast-track the implementation of the usage of Identity Documents (IDs) as travel documents between the two countries, without delay,” Geingob said.
He also noted that the two countries have also agreed to jointly bid to host the 36th Edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) Finals in 2027.
“I thank President Masisi and the Government of Botswana for choosing Namibia as its preferred partner in this adventure, which both countries stand to benefit economically, as well further strengthen the people-to-people bonds between the two countries. We both recognize that hosting AFCON necessitates the upgrading of our Sports infrastructure, which would require significant investments.
“We note that our Ministers and senior officials have started preparing the modalities for the joint bid. We will need to mobilize our respective private sector players to join hands with our Governments in order to ensure a successful bid. Furthermore, we also need to lobby our counterparts in southern and east Africa to rally behind our bid. We note the efforts and progress achieve thus far, including the working visit to Windhoek by Hon. Tumiso Rakgare, Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture in May to discuss the matter and to jointly lobby the Confederation of Southern Africa Football Association (COSAFA) Executive Committee.”
The framework of the Agreement on General Co-operation which established the Botswana-Namibia Joint Commission of Cooperation in July 1990, laid the foundation to increase and expand the scope of our bilateral cooperation. The Joint Commission mechanism which has now been elevated to a Bi-National Commission, has served both countries well in nurturing our excellent cooperation, over the years.
“I am informed that our Senior Officials and Ministers have been meeting since Monday to make the necessary preparations for our meeting today. They discussed various issues for bilateral cooperation and reviewed progress made. Thus, I am pleased with the progress which they have reported on a number of commitments which we agreed upon since our last Permanent Commission, last year in Windhoek. We have a number of Memorandums of Understanding to be discussed and signed at the end of this meeting.
“In the same vein, we support Botswana’s bid to host the Secretariat of the Kimberley Process. We equally welcome Botswana’s commitment to support Namibia’s candidate, Major General Anne- Marie Nainda for the position of Delegate for Africa in the Executive Committee of Interpol, at the forthcoming 90th Session of the Interpol General Assembly, next month in New Delhi, India. On the regional and international front, our two countries continue to work together, consult and harmonise our positions on matters of mutual interest and concern,” Geingob said.
Conclusively, Geingob said that as much as our two central Governments are strengthening and deepening relations, it is equally importance that people-to-people linkages between our local governments, local communities as well as traditional authorities are nurtured and strengthened.
“I therefore call on bordering regions in Namibia to enter into mutually beneficial twinning agreements with their counterparts in Botswana.”