Business News of Wednesday, 11 March 2015

Source: BOPA

Mahama to help market Botswana beef

Ghana president, Dr John Mahama believes that his country can import Botswana's beef.

Speaking after touring the Francistown Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) abattoir on March 10, Dr Mahama said his country did not produce beef in significant quantities, but imported from South America and he, therefore, could not see why some of it could not be imported from Botswana.

He commended Botswana for well managing the BMC plant and noted that as the chairperson of the High-Level African Committee, whose mandate was to promote trade and investment among African countries, he would ensure Botswana's beef market got exposure.

Dr Mahama said his country produced cocoa and its products in large quantities and Botswana could as well import that. Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Hannah Tetteh said they would assist in advertising Botswana's beef both in Ghana and Africa as a whole.

She said their visit to Botswana cemented the bilateral relationship between the two countries on both business and investment issues.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi thanked the Ministry of Agriculture for showcasing that Botswana had capacity to export beef to all available markets. She said it was time that Africa began to function as an independent continent rather than relying most on other continents.

The Acting Minister of Agriculture, Mr Patrick Ralotsia told the visiting delegation that Botswana does not only produce world class beef but has also made great breakthroughs in producing vaccines such as that of the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

He assured the Ghanian delegation that Botswana was ready to export beef to their country.