The Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) will start selling beef to the lucrative market in China from October 2019. Botswana has always relied heavily on the European Union market but according to BMC spokesperson Brian Dioka, the expected foray into the massive Chinese market is part of the commission’s strategy of widening its footprint beyond the EU and Norway.

Dioka said the BMC is shifting its focus from relying on a single market environment in order to access more markets with stable economic growth such as the Middle East, Russia and Asia.

“The Botswana-China beef deal has been sealed. The BMC is ready to export beef to the Chinese market by October,” Dioka said.

He said part of the 40,000 tonnes of beef that the BMC currently exports to South Africa annually “will be diverted to China with more cattle to be slaughtered as well.”

Dioka was optimistic that the deal with China would help the BMC to return to profitability after running at a loss for quite some time.

Source: politicalanalysis.co.za