Francistown — The leadership of Francistown has hailed the US-Africa Business Summit an opportunity to create investment synergies and expose Botswana to international investors.
Commenting on the side lines of the summit on Wednesday, Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) Manager in Francistown, Mr Kebaswele Kebaswele said BITC was ready to scout for new business opportunities during the ongoing US-Africa Business Summit.
Mr Kebaswele noted that the summit was a way of increasing the number of investment opportunities between the continent and the US, hence exposing Batswana to international markets.
He said one of the biggest opportunity the summit presented was the initiative to invest in digital transformation, thus building the continent's digital future.
Mr Kebaswele added that such would enable young people to gain digital literacy.
He also highlighted that the summit presented an opportunity to promote and elevate young Batswana voices into the global conversations as it had opened a dialogue between them and the outside world.
"This will accelerate the engagement to promote trade and investment between the United States and Africa," he added.
Mr Kebaswele also said if taken into special consideration the partnership could enhance Africa's participation in value chain development, thus fighting poverty and unemployment.
For his part, Francistown mayor, Mr Godisang Radisigo also hailed the summit as a good initiative that would create partnerships between the people of Francistown and the world.
He said the summit gave exposure to upcoming entrepreneurs so to access outside markets, thus increasing productivity and output.
The mayor advised that all delegates should be registered and profiled so to be contacted for the betterment of international trade.
He also implored the people of Francistown to take advantage of the event and sign into investment partnerships that would yield positive results.
He noted that they should explore businesses opportunities such as leather production and take advantage of the beef market that is active in the country.
Meanwhile, Francistown District youth coordinator, Ms Tiny Tamasiga-Gontse said it was important that small businesses got elevated so that they also benefitted from the forum.
She said local communities should be stimulated first so as to create a platform for those who were struggling to fit within the national and international standards.
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Ms Tamasiga-Gontse noted that for such to be a success, communities needed to be united.
Additionally, the chairperson for Francistown Informal Sector, Mr David Mbulawa said the summit would encourage digitalisation in that it would enable them to sell their products to a larger market.
He urged other business owners to follow all protocols needed to successfully operate a business so that they could end up competing globally.
He said being invited to a virtual participation in the openng of the summit by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi was a sign that government recognised small scale businesses and the impact that they were capable of bringing into international investments.
Francistown City Council had gathered drivers of the city's economy under one roof to watch the opening of the US-Africa Summit and share ideas on how to exploit its trickle down effects.
Among attendees were Business Botswana, informal sector representatives, dikgosi, and captains of the industry.
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