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Botswana and Namibia have recommitted to strengthening trade and security ties between the two countries.
Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has called on the transport ministers of Botswana and Namibia to speed up the construction of the Kalahari railway between the two countries.
He made the remarks during an “official talks” discussion at the Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre on the second day of his official visit to Namibia.
The Kalahari Railway is a proposed 1,500km heavy-haul railway from the Mmamabula coalfields in Botswana to Walvis Bay in Namibia.
“I cannot stress enough that this project should not just be launched but should be in its final stages. All outstanding issues must be resolved quickly to expedite the project launch without further delay.”
Masisi added that time was of the essence and urgent action must be taken to resolve any uncertainties and launch the project at the earliest.
“As President, I eagerly await the report from our ministers on progress in various areas of cooperation. This report will serve as a basis for assessing the outcomes of our last Botswana Namibia Bilateral Commission (BNC) meeting and help us make progress in our joint efforts,” he said.
“It is critical to have a comprehensive understanding of the current status of each area of collaboration so that we can better understand where we stand and plan accordingly for future collaborations at BNC.”
More progress
Likewise, Namibian Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Kale Kjeltwein said that the proposed negotiations between the two countries on the construction of a water pipeline were still ongoing.
“We have previously reached an agreement that both sides will cooperate to provide desalinated water to both countries. We have divided the project into three phases: SS1 is to provide desalinated water to the west coast. The cabinet has approved the project. The feasibility study has been completed. Funding has been secured. Hopefully, we can start implementation in December,” he said.
He explained that SS2 is about supplying desalinated water to the central region.
“We are still evaluating whether it is more cost-effective to provide desalinated water compared to building all the dams and supplying water from other sources.”
SS3 is likely to be the final phase of the plan as it can be extended and is the entry point to the Namibia-Botswana pipeline.
“We have formed a joint committee to look at the legal aspects of the actual maintenance and construction of this infrastructure, the use issues, etc. The committee will reconvene at the next meeting so that we can move to the next step, which is to conduct a full feasibility study.”
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