All Quotes

"Phuong Kubacki - Soleil"

"Menik Gooneratne - Laxmi"

"Blair Beeken - Jenn"

"Eric Steinig - Mel"

"John Cena - Himself"

"You find we’re allowing politics to a large extent not to decide what makes sense in economics. We are galvanising ourselves around priorities, managing properly again, building capacity and our capabilities around properly managing infrastructure, doing things on time."

"We don’t have the capabilities and capacity to do what the modern world requires. We don’t have the capacity to structure the public-private partnerships that we need to build mega-infrastructure projects. We don’t have the capabilities to leverage and bring the best out of AI and tech."

"We need to build it. We need to retrain and revitalise the government civil service. We’ve never experienced the type of unemployment levels we have now, particularly among young people and educated young people. The education system has been purely geared to creating social sciences graduates. The unemployed are highly educated. This means we have a real opportunity to upskill rapidly to AI, tech, and indeed there are steps we’re taking and partnerships we’re putting in place."

"The second priority is that we need to modernise, revitalise and restructure our state-owned enterprises. In a small economy like that of Botswana, that has maybe 50 SOEs across every sector, from water and power to telecoms and financial services, they are an important part of the economy."

"If it’s not efficient, if its sub-optimised, if governance is not strong, if you don’t have enough competent CEOs, that affects the economy in a big way."

"All of these SOEs are very much scalable, they can become continental players… We have not really had a forecast on sectors that have the highest prospects of success – it’s time we did. In the past, government poured money into SMEs [small and medium enterprises] because it was popular. Now we need to support commercialised, high-productivity agriculture."

"We have us a good deal and we trust that it will carry us into the future. To the people of Botswana, this agreement is about you, about the jobs it will create,” President Boko said at the signing ceremony."

"With an eye to the future, Gaolathe says the success of the deal will be dependent on skills and technology transfer."

"The generation before had good relations with De Beers; the current generation believes maybe that the type of relationship the generation before had was not entirely optimal."

"We believe there’s more that can be done. When you look at diamond production in Botswana, a lot of technology emanates from De Beers. Even though our country has created a lot of engineers and diamond people, we haven’t been able to develop our capacity as a country, our own proprietary knowledge of the mining process. Botswana by now should really be a leader on the African continent, not based on De Beers – we should be in the lead in terms of our knowledge, we should be selling technology to miners across Africa. We should be conversant with all the processes from aggregation to mining, and leaders in a longer value chain as well as the design and manufacture of jewellery."

"Our diamond exports to the US don’t take anything away; there is not unfairness to the US. If anything, we have added great value to the US, we’ve given them the opportunity to create an entire sector which they wouldn’t have without our diamonds, which pays well."

"In tax it’s economics 101, all that happens is that it [the tariff] is a consumer tax. It basically raises prices on diamond products. It’s a consumer tax on themselves. It doesn’t do anything else to help them."

"We have sat down with the President and leadership and asked ourselves, what type of partners are we looking for? The first thing is: we’re looking for partners in it for the long term, not for the quick buck. The second is: those that have the types of insights and experiences we don’t have. The third, I’m embarrassed to say but must say, is that we’re looking for partners with deep pockets! And the fourth is: partners who want to be associated with who you are."

"Our true north is a Botswana where every citizen is employed, empowered, and fulfilled."

"Japan’s greatest asset is not just its resources and hi-tech sector, but its people—their character and sense of respect. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba embodies these qualities, and it is what draws us, and the rest of Africa, to Japan."

"In the past, an overvalued pula was not a problem because diamond exports brought in billions of pula worth of foreign currency."

"Today, the diamond market has weakened, global demand has dropped, prices have fallen, and Botswana is earning far less from diamond sales. “When the pula remains overvalued or stronger than it should be, the Bank of Botswana had to dip into the foreign reserves, selling dollars and euros to buy pula and stop its value from falling too quickly."

"While the authorities are actively working to address these challenges, we concurrently urge all customers to exercise their power by actively shopping around and negotiating for more competitive foreign exchange rates."

"These include enhanced engagement with market participants, the potential introduction of caps on the mark-up applied by commercial banks to their foreign currency trading margins, the potential introduction of asymmetric trading margins for the Bank's own foreign currency operations with commercial banks, and other targeted regulatory measures."

"Sri Lanka delayed critical currency and reserve reforms and when their reserves ran dry, the country spiralled into a full-blown crisis in 2022. “Fuel stations ran dry, shelves emptied, and confidence in the state evaporated overnight."

"The changes are meant to shield this country from a far more devastating outcome where we are not able to pay for imports, a situation where we can’t afford fuel, food, or medicine, where banks run dry and where the poor pay an even higher price. “That will not happen under our watch."

"Having successfully slowed spending by P5.5 billion in the past eight months, we must now move to further slow expenditure and cement fiscal consolidation."

"We must live within our means and build a more resilient economy,”"

"Gov't to tighten spending further on diamond revenue slump 19 August 2025"

"As we chart Botswana’s economic future, robust financial management remains the bedrock of sustainable growth. “A key pillar of this is strengthening our public procurement framework to ensure transparency, accountability, and value for money."

"By fostering public-private collaboration, we will drive competition, innovation, and cost-effectiveness in procurement processes. Botswana’s prosperity depends on a procurement system that is fair, transparent, and inclusive."

"We are moving from diamonds and government as the centre to a vibrant ecosystem fired by the private sector, innovators, social entrepreneurs."

"We will not rest until every citizen is employed, every citizen is empowered, and every citizen is fulfilled."

"A high-income Botswana that is digitally-enabled, export-driven and economically diversified where every citizen is employed, empowered and fulfilled."

"BETP focuses and emphasises execution, more execution, extra execution, super execution, ultra execution. The time has come for our nation to build a culture of getting things done. We have started doing so with the Permandu economic lab methodology, and this is only the beginning."

"You inherit a Botswana that is not perfect but teeming with possibility. We face challenges, especially youth unemployment, but you are the generation destined to convert these challenges into opportunities."

"A qualification without practice, creativity, and contribution is nothing more than paper. True power lies in what you do with the knowledge you carry. Go forth and practice, innovate, create, and generate new knowledge."

"For too long our challenge has not been ambition but execution,” he said. “The Botswana Economic Transformation Programme through the Big Fast Results represents our commitment to closing this gap, to prepare not just our people for the future but also the future for our people."

"Unlike many frameworks that emphasise policy design, BFR is unapologetically delivery oriented, embedding accountability, measurable milestones and timely outcomes."

"In Botswana, our diamond-led growth model has served us well, but it cannot deliver our high-income aspirations. “That is why we are decisively pursuing reforms under BETP to build a productive, inclusive, technology-driven and globally competitive economy."

"Bringing South Africa together, inspiring young girls to dream big and lead."

"In this, we share a common purpose with WSBI of moving beyond theory to practical results that uplift households, empower communities and build confidence in financial systems."

"I am deeply encouraged by this conference under the thoughtful leadership of Botswana Savings Bank and WSBI. “The discussions span digital innovation, MSME financing, women and youth entrepreneurship, rural outreach and risk management in the digital area,"

"I doubt that under the current fiscal circumstances it will be good economics to lower corporate taxes under the current circumstances."

"Rather there is pressure to increase corporate tax."

"This was part of the government's initiative to support local businesses by ensuring continuous economic activity through equitable distribution of money throughout the month; moreover it was then intended to reduce overcrowding at business places and malls."

"We strongly believe that the primary objective of this initiative which is to ensure equitable distribution of money throughout the month thus promoting economic activity has been achieved to some extent."

"We have noted improvements, improved performances of local business, including SMME’s in which the taxi industry forms part of."

"The results have been positive in terms of the issue of spreading economic activities through the month and the reduction of overcrowding in places of business. The results are based on seven sectors of the economy both government and private."

"It turns out or the study reveals that more than 50% of the sectors would actually oppose the government reverting to the old system. In addition the majority stated they have not incurred any additional costs implications and are experiencing positive results."