Botswana's High Commissioner Designate to the Commonwealth of Australia, Ms Dorcas Makgato, has pledged to support the University of Botswana to transform into a research intensive institution during her tour of duty in Australia.
Ms Makgato was speaking during a courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor, Professor David Norris, at the University of Botswana on February 10, 2020.
“If you want a friend, I am that friend,” she said, promising to help the University of Botswana forge partnerships and collaborations with various Australian institutions. Ms Makgato said she was excited to serve in Australia because “when we talk about a knowledge economy the bulk of what we need is in that country”.
As such, she observed that institutions such as the University of Botswana, which must be at the forefront of Botswana’s transformational process, should be assisted to forge strong relations with Australian institutions that could help with research driven transformation.
In addition, she advised the University Management to align its operations and strategies with the country’s vision of transforming from a resource to a knowledge-based economy. “Look at yourself as facilitators and not a competitors because given your vantage point as the country’s premier institution of higher learning your duty must be to drive this transformational process through research,” advised Ms Makgato.
Ms Makgato observed that the University of Botswana was a repository of a wealth of research knowledge which should be planted into the community. Therefore, she called for new strategies of disseminating such knowledge.
Earlier on, Professor Norris had underscored the importance of creating linkages with various Australian institutions if the University of Botswana was to realise its vision of becoming a research intensive institution.
Professor Norris added that it was therefore imperative for the University of Botswana to reinforce its capacity to conduct quality and impactful research by increasing its cohort of research students as well as its internationalization process.
Consequently, Australia comes in handy as an ideal key partner in numerous research areas given its vast expertise in renewable energy and waste water recycling, noted Professor Norris.
He observed that it was, therefore, critical for the University of Botswana to invest in renewable energy and waste water recycling to curb high expenditure, which ran into millions of Pula per month, on water and electricity.
“We should be looking for other sources of energy and countries such as Australia are of great importance to us because of our similarities in areas such as climate,” he added. Meanwhile, other areas of interest for the University of Botswana include securing Australian scholarships especially for graduate students besides joint supervision and transferring their training to Botswana.