10 Apr 2024

Government has a desire to transform Orapa House into a space where youth in particular can use for purposes of innovation and creating digital products and services.

This was said by Minister of Communications, Knowledge and Technology, Mr Thulaganyo Segokgo, after his closed door meeting with French Secretary of State Development and International Partnerships, Dr Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, at Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) on Tuesday.

Mr Segokgo said through European Union, Botswana has been working with France in various areas in the digital space, and that there was an opportunity for the two to collaborate more in the future.

“So our engagement today in that regard was very fruitful,” he said. “Her visit emanates from both the invitation by our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the President, Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s visit to France, where he specifically visited their digital ecosystem.”

Mr Segokgo said the visit also gave him a chance to appraise the French minister on Botswana’s digitalisation agenda, particularly the SmartBots initiative.

“We have also talked particularly around the sort of support that we can obtain from France to achieve our own efforts of trying to build a digital innovation system similar to the French one,” he said.

For her part, Dr Zacharopoulou said she believed the partnership between Botswana, France and the European Union on digital transition was very important.

“We see that you have this ambition and want your country to be technologically smart, and France supports this initiative,” she said.

Dr Zacharopoulou said since 2017 when President Emmanuel Macron ascended, he put at the core of his policy the question of digital transition, creation of ecosystems and among others.

She said France was ready to support Botswana, and that it was good that Botswana already had a political will and youth ingenious to achieve that dream.

She said to achieve such, there was a need for a public-private partnership.

She hailed Orange Botswana for being in the forefront of such a partnership in the drive for digitalisation.

She said it was also vital to find ways to support the youth in acquiring skills, and that France was assisting the BIH financially for that purpose.

Dr Zacharopoulou raised concern on the global gender digital gap, which she said needed to be closed through skilling women in the digital agenda. ENDS