Knowledge-based products in Botswana

Minister of Education, Jacob Nkate, says the revitalisation of tertiary education and the expansion of its contribution to poverty eradication, socio-economic growth, peace and stability across the Southern Africa region requires large scale concerted political, technical, commitment and institutional dedication. Jacob Nkate was giving a keynote address at the 'Open Access' leadership summit of the Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA) at the University of Botswana (UB) ... Nkate revealed that the government of Botswana is seriously committed to increasing the skills level of its people. "I believe increased government-sponsored access to tertiary education will address the skills shortages we are faced with as well as fulfilling the Vision 2016 aspiration of Botswana becoming a knowledge-based society," he said ... Nkate further stated that whilst the post-colonial concerns were about becoming more competent, it is now more important than ever that Africans become increasingly skilled in their own knowledge production, be active creators and contributors to international thinking and decision-making rather than be on the receiving end ... "Open access approaches and models promote universal unrestricted free access to full-text scholarly materials and scientific research via the Internet which in turn accelerates knowledge transfer," he said ...