Lefoko Maxwell Moagi

"Technological advancements in the mining industry are not here to replace people."

"We as a people need to embrace the presence of technology. It is here to enhance our mining systems and make our lives easier."

"But as we know…today the copper industry is experiencing a boom."

"As it has been said the road to reducing net zero begins and ends with copper."

"To keep the energy transition going, an increased amount of copper wiring will be required to strengthen the world’s power grids and to build wind and solar farms. Electric vehicles, which are now a rapidly rising source of demand use over twice as much copper as gasoline-powered vehicles."

"I approved the acquisition of Khoemacau Copper Mining by MMG Group, which has committed to expanding the mine production and creating 1000 more jobs in addition to the 1700 currently supported by the mine."

"When there is a rush, people come in, take whatever they want to take, and go, leaving gaping holes in Africa."

"If you want to push production because there is money that is being dangled, you start compromising on how you legislate, how you do your environmental permitting, how you consult your communities."

"There is a great danger there that Africa must watch out for."

"While we have a window for coal, we can push it out, and help arrest the energy crisis within the region."

"This is a significant improvement of 258 per cent."

"The new generation capacity will be provided by Independent Power Producers (IPPs) selling power to BPC and it is expected that 300MW of coal-based new generation would be on the grid by the end of 2026 while 235MW of solar PV generation will be commissioned between 2024 and 2026."

"The remaining villages in the area will be connected once the 66kv substation and lines from Lobatse are constructed."

"A portion of the budget for the project has been provided in the 2023/2024 and the rest will be provided in the 2024/2025 budget."

"The project is at the preparation stage and is planned to be completed by 2025/2026."

"The Environmental and Social Impact Assessments and the engineering consultancy studies will commence this financial year."

"Some technical challenges were experienced in one of the boiler components and the deficiency in the design is being corrected after a root cause analysis was conducted to determine the root cause."

"The current provision towards the village electrification project is only P50 million and unfortunately has not catered for these villages."

"The plan is to include them in the 2024/2025 financial year."

"We are making headway. We are very optimistic. We are fully aware what it means for Botswana, for De Beers and what it means to the diamond industry. We will gravitate towards something that will be a shared win, if not a win-win for all of us."