Botswana ranks poorly on Africa Visa Openness report
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Botswana has not fared well in the latest Africa Visa Openness report 2017. According to the report Botswana is ranked 28th out of total of 42 countries included in the study, and managed a paltry 0.333 score with 1 being the greatest score which was only achieved by Seychelles.
The African Development Bank, in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the World Economic Forum, launched on Friday, May 19, 2017, the second edition of the HYPERLINK "https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/2017_Africa_Visa_Openness_Report_-_Final.pdf" Africa Visa Openness Index, ahead of the Bank’s Annual Meetings in Ahmedabad, India.
Botswana recently added a well-known prophet, Shepherd Bushiri, on VISA requirement list, adding him to a list of about six that needs VISA to enter Botswana. Botswana is also notorious for deporting elements that are seen to be anti-state or suspected criminals. The report says Seychelles is still the only country on the continent to offer visa-free access for all Africans. 8 out of 9 of Africa’s Upper Middle Income Countries have low visa openness scores. Many of the continent’s regional and strategic hubs like South Africa and Nigeria continue to have restrictive visa policies. Africa’s Upper Middle Income countries as a group have low visa openness scores.
The Index measures how open African countries are when it comes to visas by looking at what they ask of citizens from other African countries when they travel. It aims to show at a glance which countries are facilitating travel for citizens of other countries and how: whether they allow people to travel to their country without a visa; if travelers can get a visa on arrival in the country; or whether visitors need to obtain a visa before travel.
According to the report, overall, Africans were able to travel more freely across the continent in 2016, as visa openness levels improved from 2015. However, many challenges remained. The second Africa Visa Openness Index highlights pervasive regional differences in visa openness performance. For example, 75% of countries in the top 20 most visa-open countries are in either East or West Africa, while 20% are in Southern Africa. Only one country in the top 20 most open to visas is in North Africa (Mauritania), while no countries in Central Africa rank in the top 20. “I need 38 visas to move around Africa,” says Aliko Dangote, President and CEO of Dangote Group.
“Although challenges remain, much progress was also achieved in 2016. Continent-wide, Ghana has made the most progress in 2016 in opening up its borders to African travellers, moving into sixth place in the Index, up 16 places from 2015. Senegal also moved into the top 20 most visa-open countries, up nine places from 2015, and Tunisia moved up 13 places from 2015. Seychelles continues to lead the Index and remains the only African country on the continent to offer visa-free access for all Africans,” reads the report.
“Our leaders have to bring down the walls that separate us, from East Africa to Central Africa to North Africa to West Africa. We need a wider open market,” says Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Group, who received an African passport in 2016.
The report further states: Going forward, the priority now is to continue this positive trend and deliver on the AU’s decision for African countries to issue visas on arrival to all Africans. Greater visa openness in Africa could help create a people-centered African integration that offers much-needed travel, trade, leisure, study and job opportunities for all Africans.
Data on visa openness was collected between September 2016 and January 2017. « Our own leaders must give incentives. For example, little things like visa issuance. You go to a country that is looking for investment, that particular country will give you a run around for getting a visa. Despite the size of our group, I need 38 visas to move around Africa.” Aliko Dangote, President and CEO, Dangote Group.
Against a backdrop of the global commodity price shocks of 2016, there were calls for Africa to focus on building a bigger, more integrated market to promote greater stability. Increased intra-African investments (with FDI totalling USD 55 billion) will play a vital role, as will a more favourable business environment (as 40 African countries improve in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2017).4 Yet, Africa’s competitiveness is also dependent on labour mobility. 40% of countries in the top 20 most visa-open countries are in East Africa; 35% are in West Africa; 20% are in Southern Africa, and 5% are in North Africa. In the top 20 most visa-open countries, none are in Central Africa.
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Local tennis team upbeat ahead of Billie Jean King cup
With almost two weeks until the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, which will be staged in Kenya from June 12-17, 2023, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) ladies’ team coach, Ernest Seleke, is optimistic about reaching greater heights.
Billie Jean King Cup, or the BJK Cup, is a premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched as the Federation Cup to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The BJK Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.
The finals will feature 12 teams (Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) competing in the four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals, and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.
Closer to home, the BW Tennis team is comprised of Thato Madikwe, Leungo Monnayoo, Chelsea Chakanyuka, and Kelebogile Monnayoo. However, according to Seleke, they have not assembled the team yet as some of the players are still engaged.
“At the moment, we are depending on the players and their respective coaches in terms of training. However, I will meet up with Botswana-based players in the coming week, while the United States of America (USA) based player Madikwe will probably meet us in Kenya. Furthermore, Ekua Youri and Naledi Raguin, who are based in Spain and France respectively, will not be joining us as they will be writing their examinations,” said Seleke.
Seleke further highlighted the significance of this competition and how competitive it is. “It is a massive platform for our players to showcase their talent in tennis, and it is very competitive as countries target to get promoted to the world categories where they get to face big nations such as Spain, France, USA, and Italy. Though we are going to this tournament as underdogs because it is our second time participating, I’m confident that the girls will put in a good showing and emerge with results despite the odds,” highlighted Seleke.
Quizzed about their debut performance at the BJK Cup, he said, “I think our performance was fair considering the fact that we were newbies. We came third in our group after losing to North Macedonia and South Africa. We went on to beat Uganda, then Kenya in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play Burundi due to heavy rainfall and settled for the position 9/10,” he said.
For her part, team representative Leungo Monnayoo said they are working hard as they aim to do well at the tourney. “The preparations for the tourney have long begun because we practice each and every day. We want to do well, hence we need to be motivated. Furthermore, I believe in my team as we have set ourselves a big target of coming home with the trophy,” she said.
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Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
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Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.