Botswana Tech Summit.
The Botswana Tech Summit & Expo 2025 marked an important step in Botswana’s transition toward a diversified, innovation-driven, and future-ready economy. Building on the momentum of the 2024 Data & Artificial Intelligence Summit, the 2025 edition reflected a deliberate expansion in scope—positioning technology not as an isolated sector, but as a cross-cutting enabler of economic transformation, service delivery reform, and human development.
Anchored on the theme Technology • People • Development, the Summit convened leadership from government, the private sector, academia, civil society, innovators, and international partners at a pivotal moment for Botswana. As the country advances its Economic Transformation Programme and Vision 2036 aspirations, the Summit provided a platform to align policy ambition with practical pathways for implementation, investment, and measurable impact.
National Direction
This national direction was strongly articulated through leadership messages delivered by His Honor Mr Ndaba Nkosinathi Gaolathe, Vice President and Minister of Finance; Hon Mr Shawn Ntlhaile, Assistant Minister of Communications & Innovation; andMr Itseng Kwelagobe, Secretary-General of the Botswana National Commission for UNESCO. Collectively, their addresses positioned digital transformation as the next frontier of Botswana’s economic, social, and developmental renewal—calling for a decisive shift from resource dependence toward a knowledge- and innovation-led economy grounded in skills, platforms, and digital public infrastructure.
In his Official Opening Keynote, the Vice President emphasised that Botswana’s future prosperity lies not underground, but in the ingenuity, capabilities, and ambitions of its people. He highlighted Digital Public Infrastructure—particularly for health and climate resilience—as a catalytic investment for inclusive growth, productivity, and equity, while reinforcing that technology must serve people, expand dignity, and unlock opportunity, especially for youth, women, and rural communities.
The Assistant Minister of Communications & Innovation reinforced this vision by outlining Government’s commitment to building a trusted, future-ready digital ecosystem through policy, legislative, and institutional reform. He highlighted progress toward a National AI Policy, the Draft Digital Services Bill, the Cybersecurity Bill, and strategic investments in connectivity and digital infrastructure—positioning the Summit as a delivery platform aligned with the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP), with a clear focus on diversification, innovation, and job creation.
Providing Ethical Change
A defining feature of the Summit was its emphasis on collaboration and systems thinking. Through the strategic partnership between Thrive360 and Sthands Consulting (Pty) Ltd, the programme intentionally integrated Digital Public Infrastructure, public and environmental health, and green transformation into the national technology discourse—reflecting the interconnected challenges shaping Botswana’s development trajectory. One of the key outcomes of this collaboration was the establishment of Thrive Development Initiative (TDI), a women-led social enterprise created to institutionalise the Summit’s momentum by translating high-level dialogue into sustained programmes, platforms, and partnerships that drive inclusive, system-level change beyond the event itself.
