| Overview : The Government of Botswana’s national vision (Vision 2036) envisages that “Botswana will be a destination of choice for investment, including creating conditions that are attractive for investment and ease of doing business by creating a conducive regulatory environment. Botswana’s Eleventh National Development Plan (NDP 11) also commits to ensuring a conducive regulatory business environment for the enhancement and promotion of global competitiveness. In May 2017, the Government of Botswana approved the Better Regulation Strategy (Strategy). The Strategy is an outcome of the recommendations by the National Doing Business Committee (NDBC), which is responsible for providing strategic guidance and direction on the proposed reforms to improve the doing business environment in Botswana. The Committee is chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI). The Strategy is intended to reduce the cost of doing business in Botswana (as assessed by the Doing Business and the Global Competitiveness Reports). In recent years, these reports have highlighted inefficiencies and ineffectiveness in the regulatory environment in Botswana, leading to unnecessary complexity, uncertainty and high compliance costs for doing business in Botswana. An effective and efficient regulatory framework is the foundation for a conducive business and investment environment. A key feature of the Strategy therefore is the introduction of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA).RIA aims to improve the regulatory environment, reduce administrative and financial burdens on business and Government and improve transparency, consultation and Government accountability in addition to boosting economic growth. Following the approval of the Strategy, MITI was mandated to lead its implementation including the RIA process. In view of the above mandate, MITI has requested technical and financial support from development partners to assist in the implementation of the Better Regulation Strategy, as the Ministry (and line ministries) does (do) not have the requisite proficiency in RIA processes. In January 2018, the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed an agreement under the “Economic Diversification and Inclusive Growth (EDIG) Programme in Botswana,” which contains a number of strategic components among which is the support to implement the Better Regulation Strategy for Botswana.Accordingly, UNDP is procuring the services of a Technical Adviser (Regulatory Impact Assessment) for 180 days over an 18 month period, to support the implementation of the Regulatory Impact Assessment component of the Better Regulation Strategy in close collaboration with the Doing Business Unit under the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry. The Technical Adviser will report to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Investment Trade and Industry and the UNDP Resident Representative. |
