In his maiden State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Duma Boko reiterated the importance of the technology sector in achieving economic diversification in Botswana. To boost the sector's current standing, he announced several ways by which his administration will look to drive the sector's growth.
Boko stated his administration's commitment to working with local and global technology companies to rapidly prepare Botswana for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and drive meaningful economic transformation.
Of those partnerships will be with SpaceX's Starlink service, through which the government looks to grow internet connectivity in the country and position Botswana as a technology hub in the SADC region and attract global tech companies to the country.
The partnership will provide high-speed internet in the country, which will provide greater access to remote work opportunities, enable the delivery of innovative educational content and facilitate high-quality medical care.
President also promised that through the Village Connectivity Program, the government would connect 100 rural schools to the internet by the end of 2024 and 300 more schools by early 2025. The connective program seeks to ensure that students in rural and remote areas have access to digital resources and enable them to receive educational content via the internet.