Botswana: Botswana Minister of Finance Peggy Onkutule Serame has been named best Minister of Finance in Africa by The Banker, an international business and finance magazine owned by London headquartered global media group The Financial Times.
According to the magazine, Serame is the winner of The Banker’s Finance Minister of the Year for Africa award for 2024 in recognition of her effective stewardship of the economy in a year of turmoil across much of the continent.
Botswana’s economy grew by 6.3% during 2022, compared with 4% for sub-Saharan Africa, according to International Monetary Fund data. While growth is set to slow to 3.8% for 2023, this is ahead of the 3% average for the region.
The government committed to additional spending in 2023 on infrastructure investment in the country in a bid to lessen the country’s reliance on mining revenues.
The increase in spending for the past year — with the government committing to fiscal adjustments in 2024/25 to trim the country’s budget deficit — is in line with the priorities of the second transitional national development plan, agreed in January 2023.
Priorities of the plan include:
- Boosting export-led growth.
- Attracting foreign direct investment.
- Supporting the private sector through business environment reforms and value-chain development.
Such initiatives are geared towards helping the economy achieve high-income status by 2036.
Beyond her stewardship of the public finances, Serame was recognised for championing the need at COP28 in the UAE for climate-resilient infrastructure, appealing to fellow ministers from Africa and elsewhere for support from developed nations via the loss and damage fund.
Residents of Botswana are happy with Serame and appreciate that this award was won by the lady, and ladies and women are doing great in the country. One of the residents said, “Kudos to the women. They are taking Botswana to new heights, and they are the real future of the world, not only Botswana.