29 Apr 2024

In its endeavor to position Botswana as a destination of choice for world travellers, the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs continues to automate services to improve efficiency at ports of entry.

Presenting on the topic, Rolling out red carpet at ports of entry for tourists, at the 2024 HATAB annual conference in Maun recently, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Ms Annah Mokgethi said it was essential for ports of entry to deliver impeccable service as they were the first point of contact between Botswana and visitors.

She said her ministry had introduced the online VISA application process of which some of the VISAs were issued on point of arrival in Botswana.

Ms Mokgethi said a total of 7 291 VISAs were issued from April 2023 to date of which 4 830 were issued on point of arrival.

She said automation enhanced Botswana’s global competitiveness profile as a Meetings Incentives Conferences Exhibition (MICE) global hub.

She said the 24 hours operation of Mamuno/Trans Kalahari border post and the adoption of One Stop Border Posts (OSBP) like Kazungula OSBP were some of the reforms that promoted the country’s global status conforming to seamless and efficient movement hence contributed to economic growth.

However, the minister noted challenges in rolling out the carpet for tourists due to unstable network connectivity and shortage of staff.

To address such, she said, the ministry continuously monitored systems at points of entry and upgraded ICT systems.

Furthermore, she said as part of the MICE strategy roll out, Botswana Tourism Organisation held engagement and training sessions on customer care, productivity and etiquette for staff designated at ports of entry.

Ms Mokgethi admitted that some of the systems were not seamless, which rendered them incompetent, adding that the ministry observed irregularities where work permits of immediate family members would be approved and others rejected. 

For her part Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) General Manager Trade Facilitation, Ms Gaone Arieff said Botswana being a tourist destination required that customs and immigration processes eliminated delays while visitors were greeted with hospitable attitudes. She said BURS continued to leverage on technology to expedite and process transactions and declaration of goods.

Ms Arieff said BURS Single Window System was created to process customs clearance of traded goods thus creating a single point to submit standardised information and documents to meet legal import, export and customs-transit requirements.

This system can be accessed and utilised anywhere before a traveller embarks on a journey and process their documents before they reached the port of entry.  Ms Arieff stated that BURS was in the process of acquiring non-intrusive baggage scanners, to mitigate against invasion of travellers privacy.

She encouraged the tourism and hospitality industry to utilise BURS portal and apply for tax rebate certificates for international donors who planned to donate to Botswana so that their gifts would be endorsed before they could be shipped to Botswana and await its clearance at customs. ends