-: Look, I firmly believe, coming from the Global South,
and from a country that does not have huge resources
and political influence or power
over, perhaps, compared to other bigger countries,
that we do have an important role to play,
not just as contributors to the global discourse
on how the world can become a better place,
but also by ensuring that we can mediate
during discussions on peace and security,
precisely because
we do not have this strong power and influence.
So I believe that multilateralism really
has a lot of room and a lot of potential
for the so-called smaller countries
to make their contribution,
but also to benefit.
Because after all, it's an interdependent world,
and there's a way in which COVID-19 showed us,
that, big or small, powerful or powerless, rich or poor,
there are certain developments, which are negative,
like disease, like climate change, and disasters
that are going to affect us all equally.
So we all have a role to make sure
that things move in the correct direction for humanity.
I spoke about what we can contribute,
what leverage we have,
some of the, perhaps, the experiences
that we can share with the world,
but let's not forget the challenges
that, of course, confront or are presented
to developing countries like Botswana and others
on the African continent, in the Global South.
The challenges of development, we are not there yet.
As I said, we graduated from being an LDC,
a least developed country,
to being an upper-middle income country,
but that doesn't mean that we are a rich country.
On the contrary, we do have needs as a country.
We have a very high percentage of young people,
well-educated, but our economy does not produce enough jobs
to absorb these young people into productive employment.
These are huge challenges, and that is where, I believe,
we can deal with these challenges by working with others.
Within Africa, as I said, we are members
of the Southern African Development Community,
where we try to deepen integration
between the economies of the region.
We are, of course, in the African Union,
and therefore a member and a signator
to the African Continental Free Trade Area.
We need to increase trade within Africa.
I mean, we spoke earlier about
how trade flows and money needs
to get into the African continent,
but within Africa,
the rate of intra-African trade is very low.
It's less than 15%.
So this is why the African Intercontinental Free Trade Area
is so important to generate the jobs,
using technologies that, again,
we can partner with countries outside Africa,
in the Global North,
from a position of not only dependence and receiving aid,
but also from a position of technology transfer
through capacity building with countries from outside Africa
and outside the Global South.
I believe that, through these institutions,
including many of the institutions in multilateral, Geneva,
this is already happening,
but it can move at a quicker pace,
and in a way that really empowers young people
in the Global South to benefit
from the fruits of the resources
that are exploited in their countries
for the benefit of other continents,
but also to benefit the young people in these countries
where the resources come from.