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Gaborone growing fast
Gaborone the capital and largest city of
Botswana will be host to Global Expo Global Expo Botswana
Botswana. It has a population of 231,626
based on the 2011 census, about 10 per-
cent of the total population of Botswana.
Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 in-
habitants at the 2011 census.
Gaborone City is situated between
Kgale and Oodi Hills, near the conflu-
ence of Rivers Notwane and Segoditshane
in the southeastern corner of Botswana,
and 15 km from the South African bor-
der. The city is served by the Sir Seretse
Khama International Airport. It is an ad-
ministrative district in its own right, but
is the capital of the surrounding South-
east District. Locals often refer to the city
as Gabs.
The city of Gaborone is named after
Chief Gaborone of the Tlokwa tribe, who
once controlled land nearby. Because it
had no tribal affiliation and was close to The Global Expo Botswana being held over business in one of Africa’s stable and fastest
fresh water, the city was planned to be 6-9 August 2019 in Gaborone is the largest growing economies as well as the Southern
the capital in the mid-1960s when the business meet in the southern African country African region.
organised by BITC (Botswana Investment and
Visitors at the event include international
Bechuanaland Protectorate became an Trade Centre). GEB was conceptualised as buyers, government procurement agencies,
independent nation. The centre of the a premier business-to-business exposition product importers and agents, small , mid-,
city is a long strip of commercial busi- to attract foreign direct investment, expand and large-scale wholesale traders and retail-
nesses, called Main Mall with a semicir- of domestic investment, promote exports of ers from southern Africa, traders and industry
cle-shaped area of government offices locally produced goods and services, and representatives from surrounding countries
to its west. Gaborone is one of the fast- promote trade between Botswana and other like South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namib-
est-growing cities in the world. countries. ia. The theme for the Global Expo Botswana
Gaborone is the economic capital as GEB is a major trade and investment plat- 2019 is ‘Harnessing the power of emerging
well as the government capital; it is head- form offering exhibitors an opportunity to do markets for economic growth.’
quarters to numerous companies and the
Botswana Stock Exchange. Gaborone is
also home to the Southern African De-
velopment Community (SADC), a re- centrally located, as well as the head- Khama Crescent and Nelson Mandela
gional economic community established quarters for Air Botswana, Consumer Drive. It has a unique style of architec-
in 1980. Many languages are spoken Watchdog, Botswana Telecommunica- ture that allows the optimal amount of
there, Setswana (Tswana) being the main tions Corporation, and Debswana, the indirect sunlight to shine through the
tongue. English, Kalanga, and Kgalagadi joint diamond mining venture between windows in order to accurately sort di-
are also spoken. De Beers and the Botswana government. amonds.
Several international companies have in- A Diamond Technology Park was
Centre of national economy vested in the city, among them Hyundai, recently opened; this is as part of Bot-
Gaborone is the centre of the national SABMiller, Daewoo, Volvo, and Siemens. swana government’s vision for establish-
economy. The headquarters of important Orapa House, owned by Debswana, ment of downstream diamond industry.
financial institutions such as the Bank of is where the diamonds mined from Companies dealing in diamonds have
Botswana, Bank Gaborone, Banc ABC, Debswana are sorted and valued. Orapa established their local operations in the
and the Botswana Stock Exchange are House is located at the intersection of park

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