Washington, DC — When Festus Mogae died in early Might, the world misplaced a worldwide statesman and I misplaced a beloved buddy of greater than 40 years.
The Oxford- educated economist was a devoted democrat, dedicated feminist and visionary chief who efficiently shepherded Botswana by way of the HI/AIDS disaster. However the magic of Festus was his integration of these abilities and traits right into a soft-spoken powerhouse who was instrumental in piloting a small, newly unbiased southern Africa nation from dire poverty at its 1966 independence to prosperity because the strongest democracy and most resilient economic system on the continent 60 years later.
A whole bunch Pay Tribute as Former Botswana President Lies in State
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Integral to Festus’s magic was his skill to forge strategic alliances and partnerships. From my perspective, Festus’s lauded contributions in democracy-building, combatting HIV/AIDS and strengthening financial growth have been additional superior by a singular partnership between Festus and diamond service provider Maurice Tempelsman, Chairman of the Board of Administrators and CEO of the American diamond firm Lazare Kaplan Worldwide Inc (LKI), that spanned at the least three a long time and delivered tangible sustainable growth to the folks of Botswana.
I first met Festus in 1985 in Botswana when the Nationwide Democratic Institute was convening its “Democracies in Areas of Disaster” collection. We delighted in celebrated Botswana’s multi-party democracy, with its two strong events and fierce electoral competitors. Our friendship grew when, in 1989, Festus was appointed Minister of Finance and Growth Planning and I grew to become president of the then-African-American Institute (AAI), a number one coverage and anti-apartheid non-profit identified for its annual conferences which alternated between African capitals and New York. Maurice Tempelsman was chairman of AAI’s board.
Over the subsequent 4 a long time, Festus and I strategized on points from apartheid to corruption to HIV/AIDS to girls’s political participation to the significance of including worth to one in every of Botswana’s predominant sources, its diamonds.
Botswana has the very best focus of gem-quality diamonds on this planet, a wealth early shared with Debeers by way of the De Beers Botswana Mining Firm (Debswana), established in 1968. Festus, working because the Director of Financial Affairs within the Ministry of Finance and Growth Planning on the time, instantly understood the seminal significance of the diamond useful resource. Involved that merely exporting tough diamonds wouldn’t construct a viable, diversified economic system, Festus championed beneficiation, the method which might transition the business from extraction-only to native reducing, sharpening, aggregation and gross sales.
His partnerships and his magic – nonetheless a permanent inspiration and a tough act to comply with.
So in 1990, when Maurice’s agency, LKI, was granted a license by the federal government of Botswana to construct and function a reducing manufacturing unit, Festus noticed the essential first step towards beneficiation.
Maurice was additionally focused on beneficiation, conscious of its advantages to LKI’s backside line because it lowered manufacturing prices, elevated gross sales, expanded employment alternatives for locals and strengthened democratic values.
Sharing related pursuits and targets, Festus and Maurice grew to become trusted colleagues, collaborating on a bunch of financial and political points. For instance, in 2008, when Botswana was negotiating a $250 million take care of OPIC and wanted a guarantor to entry worldwide credit score, Maurice stepped up because the guarantor the U.S. required. When the HIV/AIDS disaster enveloped southern Africa and Festus led the clarion name to the worldwide group for help and confronted the stigma difficulty head-on, he and Maurice collaborated as soon as extra, including the HIV/AIDS problem to their respective portfolios.
In 2000, when Invoice Gates, Merck & Co. (USA) chairman Raymond Gilmartin and Maurice have been on a airplane coming back from the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, they brainstormed a couple of new HIV/AIDS initiative they might collectively help. Once they questioned the place it ought to be positioned Maurice instantly advised Botswana. He cited the secure democracy with disciplined financial stewardship and a robust dedication to combating the pandemic, ably led by his buddy, President Festus Mogae.
The African Complete HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP) that grew out of the in-flight dialogue now operates as a Botswana-led NGO famend for its analysis and revolutionary approaches to care and therapy. Festus continued his HIV/AIDS advocacy nicely into retirement,
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One afternoon in 2008, after he had gained the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Management, Festus and I fell into one in every of our democracy discussions, stressing the significance of fine fiscal administration, particularly with a finite useful resource like diamonds. I teased him, displaying him my Botswana diamond-wedding ring bought by way of LKI and personally inspected by Maurice. He smiled and, together with his trademark dry wit, thanked me for contributing to Botswana’s sustainable growth.
The following yr, 2009, when Festus was a Visiting Fellow at Boston College and I used to be an Superior Management Initiative Fellow at Harvard, we had one other of our unflinching assessments of the continent and concluded that we nonetheless had plenty of work to do.
In 2011, Festus joined the Board of the Bridges Institute, the non-profit I launched to assist strengthen African governance and democracy. Festus served as an insightful board member for 12 years. Right this moment, the challenges to the continent stay Herculean. Festus, his partnerships and his magic, are nonetheless a permanent inspiration and a tough act to comply with.
