06 May 2024

Hosting the Forbes Africa Summit is a great opportunity to  promote Botswana as a destination for business and leisure globally, Acting President, Slumber Tsogwane has said.

Officially opening the 2024 Forbes Under 30 Africa Summit in Gaborone May 6, Mr Tsogwane said it had been a privilege and an honour for Botswana to host the summit, adding that the past Forbes Under 30 Africa summits had been enthralling, insightful and worthwhile.

He said hosting Forbes Under 30 was one of the programmes under President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s initiatives, that was nestled within the Reset and Reclaim Agenda priority of digitisation in respect of economic diversification, improvement of productivity and the efficiencies of the delivery of public services.

 “As the host of the three editions of the Forbes U30 Africa Summit, it is my hope that the event will position Botswana as a regional hub for a knowledge-based economy and will offer platforms for young people to thrive and unleash their potential in their various sectors represented here today,” Mr Tsogwane said.

The Acting President indicated that hosting the Forbes summit was also a means of opening possibilities for value chain development by accessing several youth-oriented economic empowerment programmes.

He said Botswana’s profile was enhanced by its continued hosting of Forbes Under 30 as gauged by well-received Special Issue of Forbes Africa Magazine, dedicated to Botswana’s development trajectory and titled: Botswana-the Jewel of Africa.

Mr Tsogwane stated that Forbes Under 30 Africa Summit had enabled the youth to dare to dream, to try their business ideas and to seek to explore opportunities in business networks to find investors rather than be paralysed by the fear of failure.

From a continental perspective, Mr Tsogwane noted that the summit would create stronger professional ties and access to job and business opportunities, and assist with polished communication and social skills as well as other much needed soft skills for the realisation of the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.

“The Forbes Under 30 entrepreneurship engagement with cohorts of about 600 young entrepreneurs every year and an audience of over 100 million followers across all its platforms has left an indelible mark on the African businesses and young people eager to grow their business start-ups,” Mr Tsogwane said.

He thus said government fully acknowledged Forbes’ expertise with the hope that its insights would inspire the delegates to build a richer pipeline into Africa’s economy. 

Held under the theme; The Engine of Africa’s Growth: Investment and Entrepreneurship, the 2024 edition of the Forbes Under 30 Africa Summit will feature interactive dialogues followed by networking sessions, which will provide a stage for knowledge sharing that will lead to a policy shift for Africa to be a player in global entrepreneurship. ends