Botswana’s economy is grappling with steep U.S. tariffs, prompting the southern African nation to accelerate diversification and cut reliance on a narrow export base, the head of its chamber of commerce said Monday.
Norman Moleele, chief executive officer of Business Botswana, the country’s main chamber of commerce, said Botswana is treating the crisis as a catalyst to advance economic transition and explore alternative markets to cushion the impact of U.S. trade measures.
Moleele noted that while U.S. tariffs on Botswana were reduced in August to between 10 to 15 percent from the initial 37 percent following diplomatic efforts, the current rate still significantly erodes the competitiveness of Botswana’s products in the U.S. market.
He emphasized that blocked exports would directly undermine job creation, adding that Botswana is actively negotiating with partners such as China and tapping into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to secure reliable alternative markets.
“If we are unable to export what we manufacture in which we thought would create employment, certainly then employment will be affected.
We are negotiating, we’re looking for alternative markets, we’re talking to countries like China, we are part of the Africa free trade area, we are finding markets, developing markets in different areas of the world, to see to it that they are alternatives that we can rely on,” said Moleele.
He highlighted that the government is pushing domestic reforms aimed at streamlining investment procedures and diversifying the economy.
