Promoting World-Class Research and Development

The Botswana Institute of Technology, Research and Innovation (BITRI), established in 2012 by the government, is spurring on the diversification of Botswana’s economy. Professor Nelson Torto, CEO, explains, “Development always benefits from research, and BITRI aims to become the prime research organisation for Botswana. We are recruiting researchers from a range of different sectors, cultures and locations, and BITRI will be at the same level as other top research organisations around the world.”

BITRI will target two main areas: technology (including ICT, energy and electronics) and national resources and materials (including water, raw materials and other natural resources). “We want our research to help the people of Botswana. Our motto is ‘From you, to us, for you’, which means we are only working on projects that will benefit the greater community,” Nelson Torto points out.

Current projects for BITRI include ensuring that Botswana has adequate supplies of clean drinking water, developing solar-powered street lights and WiFi hot spots, and exploring the production of building materials from sand in the Kalahari Desert. Nelson Torto adds, “Other priorities include looking into ways to help Botswana cope with climate change and developing more mobile apps, which are particularly important in Africa since many people have trouble getting from place to place. We are also developing programmes to boost employment, including for youth in the ICT sector, and we are creating research capacity in nano-technologies.” As part of its effort to diversify Botswana’s economy, BITRI will work on applications for salt, soda ash and coal, all resources which Botswana has in abundance.

International partnerships welcome

Nelson Torto notes that BITRI welcomes contacts with other research organisations worldwide. He says, “We want to bring international researchers here through a post-doctoral programme. We plan to offer world-class facilities.” Though a young organisation, BITRI has already joined the African Academy of Sciences and the Regional Research Alliance. BITRI partners with South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Zimbabwe’s SADC.

BITRI strongly promotes FDI in Botswana. Nelson Torto explains, “We are a small country, but we have the resources to compete internationally given the right investment. Here at BITRI, we can offer the right environment for researchers working at the forefront of technology. BITRI is a partner you can rely on for research and development at the highest level. We have the right capacity, commitment and resources, along with the willingness to work with companies with similar aims.”