BOTSWANA President defends TRAORE & AES IN FRONT OF Macron & Ruto AT FRANCE-AFRICA SUMMIT!

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]The previous leaders on the African continent have cut deals that are not so beneficial to their countries and to the continent. That was a failure of leadership. A monumental failure. So we need a breed of leaders now that understand the interests and are able to pursue these interests vigorously and come out of any negotiation any engagement with deals that benefit the countries that benefit the continent and that then are able to sustain these links and affinities among the African countries themselves. So this is what we need to do rather than lament what others have exacted from Africa with the complicity of of Africans. We need now to understand what it is that we also must exact from the world. What do we want the world to perceive us as?

[00:00:58]And yet this relationship with France hasn't done so well in recent years.

[00:01:02]Specifically if we look at the Sahel countries you know Mali Bkinaaso Ner what do you think of that? Well, exactly the point I've made. If uh if you allow others to come in and uh you don't uh yourself protect your interests and the interests of your people, uh a large chunk of the blame must fall on you. And now there has emerged in the Sahel region a new breed of leaders that have prioritized the interests of their countries and of their region and ultimately of Africa. And so they've made demands. they've uh they've reconfigured the landscape and and and it is something that is commendable and so whoever wants to deal France can deal with with the Sahel region but on terms that are different from the previous ones so there's no preclusion there's no stopping any country from trading with what now must obtain is we trade on fair and equitable terms that must benefit the countries them in Africa and the Sahel region has taken that stance and it's critical for >> Yes. Welcome back to your lovely channel Make Africa Great. Uh my dear brothers and sisters in this video as you heard I bring you an important moment from President Dumagon Boo uh the president of Botswana speaking on the sidelines of the meeting where he explains and places the bold steps taken by Salian leaders and Salan nations in general against France. His remarks come at a time when many African countries are rethinking for an influence security uh partnership and the future of African sovereignty.

[00:02:59]Um from what you heard uh President Bo has called Africa uh to have their own interest. Yes, we need partners but we need to have our own interest.

[00:03:12]Another thing that President B has touched the issue of Olano uh French company that is operating or extracting Ulanium has shifted from Nija to uh to Botswana. Let me take you to what President Dum Gideon Boo has said.

[00:03:35]>> Forward summit co-hosted by Kenya and France for you and for Botswana. What does this mean for you? Well, Botswana is uh reaching out to to to to other African countries and reaching out to the world.

[00:03:50]Firstly, under the aes of the of the Africa continental free trade agreement, we need to reach out to each other. We need to develop uh corridors of trade. We need to encourage flows of trade and investment amongst uh ourselves as African countries.

[00:04:08]>> Mh. And uh we recognize uh that the current reality is that there's very low intra Africa trade and we need to address this challenge and we need to do it through engagement through collaboration through partnerships and through a robust and aggressive improvement of our facilities so that we are interconnected and and we can trade more freely and efficiently.

[00:04:36]>> Right. One wonders and these are questions that many people ask about this Africa plus one so the whole of Africa plus one global power a huge country out there uh does it need to take that in this case France to have that conversation about Africa free trade area which has been around for a while and perhaps some feel these borders can still open when you do not have that involvement at that level.

[00:05:01]>> Well the African countries must must themselves address their own uh challenges. some of them legacies of the colonial period.

[00:05:10]Even the the way the infrastructure is laid out, it was never to connect African countries. It was to evacuate raw material from Africa. So the any routes lead to ports out out of Africa.

[00:05:26]So we need now increasingly to connect amongst ourselves.

[00:05:31]If you looked at air transportation in Africa in certain instances, if you take uh you want to move from Lwanda in Angola for instance to Mapuch in Mozambique, you have to travel all the way to Adis.

[00:05:44]>> Mhm.

[00:05:45]>> In order to come back.

[00:05:46]>> Yeah.

[00:05:46]>> And it takes uh several hours, sometimes even days when you could do a one-hour flight. So we need to address some of these so that our people are more interconnected and there's a there's a free and efficient flow of goods and services within Africa and so that doesn't need any external influence or or proddding. It is uh Africa that must deal with it under the African Union under the regional trade blocks SAD coma um and the East African community. So we need to strengthen these so that they can collaborate and then we will achieve this.

[00:06:25]>> So Africa plus is is basically a bonus.

[00:06:28]Africa must before it it it coexists.

[00:06:33]Africa must exist.

[00:06:34]>> Okay.

[00:06:34]>> And Africa exists by strengthening the binds and bonds that keep us together and that define us as as as the continent of Africa. That's critical.

[00:06:43]>> Okay. So for for your country then specifically in this summit, are you coming in with a mindset to sign some deals, some trade agreements with perhaps France?

[00:06:54]>> Well, we're looking for for agreements for partnerships with companies uh the private sector. The private sector is involved in the main in finding solutions. So they identify problems, they find solutions to these problems, they develop these solutions, they protect their intellectual property in these solutions. And so if we have these problems that require the solutions that they have, we have to engage with them, >> engage with a view to ensuring that they internalize their intellectual property.

[00:07:26]we deploy in our countries in Africa and that uh we are then able to address the pressing problems from within and and get our people involved and in the process there must also be a skills transfer and we will also engage if there's any need to invest in in in in research alongside the private sector we will do so in order to have uh these durable solutions to problems that we face on a daily basis.

[00:07:54]>> Okay. So let's talk about because we've been actually reading some reports that you know France is um you know nuclear energy group Orano is looking to sign some deals and you know invest in Botswana for uranium. Could you tell us if uh you know that's one of the agreements that you're looking at and how far that project is? Well, the way things work is that uh we've been issuing and and and this has been going on for years, decades now, prospecting and mining licenses to companies, mining houses from wherever they came if they were interested in investing and they were willing to operate within the laws.

[00:08:37]So, this French company Orano has actually been given. It's not something that starts now. They already hold prospecting licenses and uh we anticipate that they will do the drilling, the prospecting, establish the different uh quantities of deposit of uranium and then they will get to the next stage of of of extraction and extraction for a number of uh reasons and or to address a number of challenges. The first is power.

[00:09:12]With uranium, we can have modular nuclear reactors that generate power.

[00:09:16]The cleanest and the cheapest form of energy is exactly that. So, we're looking to have that. That will re-energize catalyze our economy because we can then establish um hypers scale data centers within Botswana. We can then become more than energy sufficient. we become a net exporter of power to the neighboring countries where there's a huge deficit.

[00:09:40]So these collaborations, partnerships with Orano or any other foreign investment entity that would like to operate in in Botswana are most welcome.

[00:09:53]>> Yeah. And so we are looking to strengthen, we're looking to speed up the process so that they can get to extraction. We can then get to developing uh nuclear reactors, generate power, uh have it cheap. Yeah.

[00:10:08]>> Spread it because the coverage now in Botswana is about 76%. So there's a there's a sizable part of the population that is still not covered. So we want to cover the whole country and everybody must have access. And do you have some timelines for that for this nuclear project?

[00:10:23]>> Well, we're looking to have everything up and running within the next uh within the next one and a half years, right?

[00:10:28]>> Okay.

[00:10:29]>> Yeah.

[00:10:29]>> All right. So, um let's talk about Africa France relationships. Uh what do you make of that relationship at the moment? because it's been criticized by some uh you know some may see that even this summit is probably a diplomatic attempt by France to start looking east of Africa, southern of Africa.

[00:10:52]>> Well, here's how things work in in the real world. Every country, every power looks out for its own interests and every African country must must also understand this this real reality and African countries must look out for their own interests and collectively as as as as the continent. We must look out for the interests of the of the continent. M.

[00:11:16]>> And so when we step out to engage with any country, any power, we must do so from the vantage point of understanding what our strategic imperatives are. And when we get to the negotiating table, we must pursue vigorously these initiatives. What has tended to happen in the past is that >> for France at this moment, what do you think would be that strategic advantage for Africa that you're trying to describe? If you take the the collaboration in the uranium space, this is not about extracting uranium in the raw and taking it and fixing the prices yourselves elsewhere. This is about the country from which the uranium is produced playing a leading role in the process of extraction in any beneficiation and in the trade and the commodity. Mhm.

[00:12:09]>> And so this is exactly what must happen.

[00:12:12]>> So people must come, foreign investors must come. We encourage them to come, but they will come on our terms, not on terms determined by themselves and in to the exclusion of of of the of the producer countries. This is it's a very simple proposition and it's an it's a fair and equitable proposition even in the world of commerce. So tell me where you see African countries in terms of that strategic positioning especially with global powers like China and the US. This very week there's be a big meeting between President Trump and Xiinping in China and it comes at a time when China has just granted African countries a huge trade deal for you know zero tariff for most of their exports.

[00:12:54]Do you feel that African countries are finally sort of cracking the code to demonstrate that value that you described earlier?

[00:13:02]>> Well, yes. I think there's a there's a unique opportunity for for Africa for African countries.

[00:13:10]We do not want a repeat of the 1884 Berlin conference where foreign powers met for the aortionment of Africa amongst themselves.

[00:13:21]We want a situation where those who come come as equal partners and respectfully to assist their economies of course but to also appreciate that the African economies must also grow and the Africans for their part must engage with Xiinping, engage with President Trump with an understanding of what their strategic interests are and go to the table to ensure that they get a fair deal, a fair and equitable deal that will work for their people and generate the economic growth that is required to power to power the the lives and livelihoods of their people. So a meeting between Trump and Xiinping might be good for the world in fact if they realize that whatever little trade wars that they engage in become exogenous shocks for economies of other countries. So they must actually act with with extreme circumspection when it comes to how they handle their own affairs as as as world powers. But uh it's it's it's it's encouraging that some of the misunderstandings result in some benefit. If if if the Americans impose tariffs, China says no zero, >> we remove the tariffs. This will now cause the Americans to to rethink and say >> we may lose a whole uh handle on power here or on on whatever dominance or commit being an imperial imperial power uh because uh imperial hubris as well can be extremely dangerous. So I think the dynamics are working out very well and Africa must position itself to to push its own interests. Let's Yes, welcome back family, brothers and sisters. That is President Duma Gideon Bo as you heard at the beginning uh speaking on sideline of the French Africa summit and of course you heard um his vision uh and saying that right now we want new blood of leadership not leaders who are selling out this continent. And I like the way President Dum Gideon has articulated that right now yes we need to engage with the rest of the world with the vision uh of what we want as Africa. But the problem that we have as president Iboko said majority of our leaders are holdmen and the their interest is of course they being designed to serve the interest of their masters. uh so uh to what President Boa said I think it needs a new generation of leadership and this current of leaders whom majority of them we have I think they're outdated and they outdated I mean that they're being controlled by the western powers so we need new leadership like leaders in Sahel and also uh leaders who can stand for the interest of their people.

[00:16:44]Another issue that President B has touched of course have been saying this um in previous video that France seek the replacement of those three countries Mali, Nija and France seek the place where can put their military bases. Of course, Kenya has offered France to relocate those military bases and also France seeking where can get Ulania and as you heard President Booker said Botswana has ulanium and France company Holano has contracts and agreement to process and extracting um Ulanium from from Bosswana. So you can see the strategy of France. France is not talking or concentrating on countries. France is looking on where can get that resources, replacement of those resources. We know that Nija has oil. That's why you see um right now France is looking in Angola is looking on Mozambique. So because Mozambique, Angola all these countries have oil. So France looking replacement where France companies can extract oil.

[00:18:05]We know total energy big French big company that is uh dealing with energy and especially oil. We know what they're doing. But all in all after being these silent countries chasing them out they they're finding a new way and that's why you see France has come as coming to Africa especially looking on southern part of the continent and eastern part of the continent. The interest of France is not about uh supporting Africa. It's about looking the interest maintaining the interest the needs of industries in France. That's what Macron is looking for. Uh, President B has spoken very well and openly and expressing the truth and one thing that has made me proud when he said Sahelian nations they did well. You know these leaders whom sometime they call themselves democratic leaders. Sometimes they fear to speak the truth but president has spoken very well the truth without fear of anyone and pleasing and appreciating what leaders in Sahel has done. So what the leaders in Sahel have done they're not in conflict with France. They love France. The problem they are fighting or they they're fighting they're fighting with France imperialism not the people of France not individuals the system that France put in place to these flank countries where these countries are being forced to follow what France want and that's what they're fighting for. They're not against individuals. They're not against uh maybe the people of France. No, they're against France imperialism and France imperialists. That's what they're fighting for. So um leaders, new generation of leadership, we need for the need to focus on what we want as Africa. I have seen African being uh summoned in several cities, several um countries. But what is our agendas?

[00:20:26]That's the thing that we need to put in place. The time has come, I think, for Africa to have our own agenda. When we meet with these powerful nations or these what we call superpowers, we need to have our own agenda. What are we going to benefit? What is our agenda?

[00:20:43]France has its own agenda. France seeking to replace Marijas.

[00:20:48]What's our agenda as Africans?

[00:20:51]That's the question that the new current or the new leadership in Africa need to focus. So family, brothers and sisters, let us not speak for my intention and my um mission was to share this message from President of Bosswana, his excellenc.

[00:21:12]Thank you.

[00:21:20]Thank you God.

[00:21:25]You make everybody.

[00:21:28]Thank you, Africa.