01 May 2024

Botswana’s active pursuit of synergies with thought leaders across the globe is a testament of its resolve to develop a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem, says President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi.

President Masisi said this on April 30, when delivering a keynote address at the Legatum Centre for Development and Entrepreneurship conference held at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, United States of America.

He said it was to this end that the country held with envy the good work by the Legatum Centre for Development and Entrepreneurship in developing lives across the world.

“We, therefore, recognise the extreme importance of emulating the example of Legatum Centre for Development and Entrepreneurship,” he said, adding that Botswana also had an unwavering commitment through Vision 2036 to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship as it embarked on the course towards knowledge-based economy.

“For us, innovation is in this regard not a privilege for the few, but a powerful tool that should be accessible to all,” he told his audience.

Botswana’s creed in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education, building a robust digital infrastructure and creating a supportive environment for start-ups and small businesses, according to President Masisi, was firm.

Moreover, President Masisi stated that Botswana had a substantial 57 hectare, fully developed and serviced land that had been committed to the Botswana Digital and

Innovation Hub that Legatum could use to incubate entrepreneurs.

However, he told them that the innovation trajectory and entrepreneurship was not a walk in the park as it required collective efforts.

“We must break down silos, foster cross-border collaboration and encourage the exchange of ideas and expertise across the globe,” he said.

In her welcome remarks earlier, interim John C Head III Dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management Professor Georgia Perakis was happy that the Legatum Centre for Development and Entrepreneurship ideas were finally being realised.

Legatum Centre for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT was established in 2007 on the belief that entrepreneurs and their market-driven solutions are critical to advancing economic and social progress.

The centre mentors and builds the capacity of emerging and established entrepreneurs by equipping them with the practical skills, systems thinking and leadership values they need to build scalable businesses, transform systems and drive lasting change in their communities as a means to achieve prosperity for all. ENDS