Kutlo Motseta
13th October 2026
‘Greenloop Foundation’ launched its fourth edition of the Botswana Sustainability Week 2026 (BSW26), themed: “The business of sustainability: Activating Private Sector Leadership to drive Botswana Next Growth Economy” at the Botswana Tourism Organization (BTO) headquarters in Gaborone.
BSW26 was founded by Ms. Lindiwe Modise, a microbiologist by training, who is a passionate environmentalist advocate, who has been appointed as ‘Botswana brand Ambassador’ to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), by the Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism of Botswana.
BSW26, which has strategically partnered with BTO will provide a platform for Batswana to grow the green economy, whilst placing an equal emphasis on sustainable development. Panelists and delegates will include government leaders, business executives,
development partners, sustainability practitioners and entrepreneurs. This will give attendees an opportunity to engage with them as BSW26 endeavors to accelerate sustainable investment and project implementation across Botswana.
BSW26 will be attended by the Minister of Environment and Tourism Hon. Wynter Mmolotsi, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Trade Tiroeaone Ntsima, Maun North Parliamentarian Dumelang Saleshando and Tribal Chiefs in Ngamiland.
“I came up with Botswana sustainability week and we were welcomed in 2023. We started in 2023 and hosted 60 delegates, we had lots of support from government,” she said.
BSW has grown exponentially since, it received 150 delegates in 2024 and is expecting between 250 and 300 delegates this year. BSW26 is also supported by banks and the mining industry. In addition to entrepreneurial opportunities, 25% of the money that will fund the event
will be pledged to the people of Maun, which will be part of the ‘impact investment’ in the region.
“There are people that suffer and don’t have their basic necessities,” she says. The BSW26 will assist with borehole drilling and the provision of water treatment in the region. “We will host in Maun for three years … so that we can see an impact,” she added.
“We have been endorsed by the ministry of environment to host the first Botswana ESG private sector roundtable.”
“We will be having roundtables, panels … but we are very intentional about it not just being a talk show we want presentations and engagements so people and ask questions … and of course exhibiting and impact investing as we mentioned,” she added.
BSW26 intends to leave a legacy in the solar power space, through the ‘One million tree campaign’, impact financing pathways by translating national sustainable priorities into fundable, implementable and measurable outcomes.
To exemplify its intentions to make a difference to the people of Maun, BSW26 has ordered 360 pieces of furniture from a small business operator without much shelter and will provide stores for traders to sell products at BSW26.
Acting Executive Marketing Manager, Tebogo Ramakgathi spoke about the growing the importance of buttressing green economic with sustainability with ESG compliance.
“The now traveller when they speak about travelling they speak about sustainability,” she said.
She added that BTO chose to work with Greenloop Foundation because they are aligned with their marketing policies and said the office is open to the public for collaboration on cultural compliant tourism projects.
The Environment and Eco Certification Manager at BTO, Mokganedi Ntana, said the public should not neglect business objective, but comply with green sustainability standards because Botswana’s green resources are important.
“We don’t just want to raise awareness but show people that any negative impact on our resources is going to affect our lives and lives of the people in those environments …. It’s very important that we shouldn’t look at sustainability in context of environment and also business,” he said.
“We have remote and eco-sensitive areas like the Delta, Makgadikgadi, CKGR, Kgalagadi and the eastern part of the country … most of the operations there are high end … and they have no choice but to rely on natural resources to operate their businesses … and their selling point is how sustainable they are … that is why they have no choice [but to champion sustainable development]”.
“Sustainable development creates long term economic drive to protect our biodiversity, cultural heritage and our identity,” he said.
Ntana explained that there are accommodation and travelling standards that have to be adhered to.
“When you say you are practicing responsible tourism you must have systems in place … We want to make sure that we don’t only apply sustainability measures to accommodation but also extend them to the travelling sector of the tourism industry,” he said.
He further explained that BTO wants to protect the consumers from ‘green washing’, which entails misrepresenting green credentials. BTO is in the final stages of further international standard alignments and also intends to the do the same with food and beverages across the industry.
