The University of Botswana and Japanese Embassy have, for quite some time now, enjoyed good relations that they are keen on expanding to another level.
This emerged during a courtesy call the new Japanese Ambassador and Special Representative to SADC, Mr Kozo Takeda, paid on Acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Kgomotso Moahi, at UB on November 28, 2017.
Mr Takeda, who is in his first diplomatic posting to Africa, appreciated the good relations that the Embassy of Japan had enjoyed with the University of Botswana. He said his main interest was to foster cultural exchanges between Botswana and Japan. He recalled that last year the Japanese facilitated a cultural event which they would like to continue hosting since there was a budget set aside for such.
In response, Professor Moahi, who informed Mr Takeda that her last day as Acting Vice Chancellor was November 30, 2017, also appreciated the long standing relationship between UB and the Embassy of Japan. She said Mr Takeda’s predecessors laid a good foundation for the relations to prosper and expressed the desire to see them expanding.
Professor Moahi gave Mr Takeda and overview of the University, noting that one of its intentions was to grow into a research intensive institution and that such could only be achieved if it equally grew its graduate studies to have more students doing research work.
She said although the Gaborone Campus had the capacity to accommodate up to 20 000, the current student enrolment stood at around 13 000. Professor Moahi observed that 10 per cent of the students were international students on various exchange programmes.