Manada de elefantes
Maputo, 11 Jul (AIM) – The President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, on Wednesday offered Mozambique a further 200 elephants.
These will join the 500 elephants that Botswana offered in 2018. Botswana is the country with the largest number of elephants on the planet, estimated at over 130,000.
Masisi announced the offer in Maputo, shortly after official talks with his host and counterpart, Flipe Nyusi.
“Several years ago we gave Mozambique a present of 500 of the largest land mammal on the planet, the African elephant”, said Masisi. “Now we want to add a further 200”.
He said the Botswana authorities will now work to ensure the rapid translocation of these animals to Mozambique.
“We use the elephants in an extremely profitable manner”, said Masisi. “But when you have too much of a good product, it can become problematic. However, it’s not the problem we want to share with you, but the opportunity to use elephants to do business. We shall teach you how to take care of them, since we are the most successful country in the world when it comes to looking after elephants”.
The two Presidents signed seven memorandums of understanding in various sectors in order to strengthen cooperation ties
The memorandums cover security and public order, agriculture, livestock and food security, trade, industry and investment, as well as information and communication technologies, and preventing and combating corruption. The instruments also include a bilateral road transport agreement for passengers and goods.
According to Nyusi, speaking at a joint press conference, minutes after the signing of the documents, the purpose of the visit is to boost economic ties.
“During the meeting, I informed him about what is happening in Mozambique and he informed me about Botswana, as well as talking about the development of our economy and the world. We discussed the municipal elections that took place in Mozambique in October 2023 and the general elections due to take place next October”, Nyusi said.
He explained that it was during Masisi’s term as president of the Troika that the Southern African Development Community Military Mission to fight the islamist terrorists in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado (SAMIM) was set up, which made it possible to restore the authority of the Mozambican state in regions that had been taken over by terrorists.
“We spent a long time talking about terrorism, explaining SAMIM’s withdrawal, and the return of formerly displaced people to their areas of origin. That’s why I thank the people of Botswana for working with us to combat terrorism, since the president has already guaranteed that his support doesn’t stop there”, said Nyusi.
Nyusi also said that he sees Botswana as a country that can help exploit Mozambique’s main logistics corridors.
“We are very focused on the area of rail and road transport, but also on the full exploitation of the Ports of Mozambique, since we see the need for traffic to and from Botswana in the long term. Botswana, a landlocked country, could use Mozambican ports for its imports and exports”, he said.
For this reason, a project is underway to build a deep-water port in Techobanine, in the southernmost district of Matutuine, which will handle Botswana’s mineral exports. A railway will link the new port to Botswana, via Zimbabwe. However, there is strong opposition to the project on environmental grounds.
For his part, President Masisi said that both countries have a lot to offer each other. “We are committed to sharing our knowledge in matters of defense and security, and agriculture, among others, using your facilities for oil and gas”, he said.
(AIM)
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