Written by Mathias Haufiku | From New Era

Former President of Botswana Festus Mogae has called on the beef sectors in Namibia and Botswana to create a single beef exporting market in order to become more competitive internationally.

Mogae said this would help the beef sectors of the two countries to deal with challenges, which they face individually on the more competitive international markets, together.

“Our beef industries must come together and create a single beef market, this will not only make us more competitive, but it will also help us to deal with demands we are finding difficult to meet individually,” said the former statesman.

Mogae said this in his keynote address during the 2nd Founders and Alumni Dinner held by the Namibia Business School last Thursday.

The dinner was held under the theme – ‘Botswana and Namibia: Strategic options for shared prosperity amidst global challenges’. He said if the two countries fail to unify their beef markets they will not be able to compete with bigger beef suppliers such as Brazil. “If we put our products together to process and export them jointly we may withstand the rough times posed by international markets,” he said. “Namibia and Botswana have excellent quality beef, the problem lies with quantity because we are not united,” said Mogae.

He also called for increased collaboration in the agricultural sectors of the two countries and said that there is a need to be more strategic in dealing with the international community. “Our major strategic pillar should be our unity, so that we confront the international community united and therefore compete internationally on a bigger forum,” he said.

Read more at New Era