BOTSWANA wants to emulate Malaysia’s success in developing its social and educational structure, said its president, Festus G.Mogae.

He said Malaysia had emerged as a very successful nation both in the region and globally.

“Our government is really impressed with Malaysia’s nation-building history. We try to imitate Malaysia as it resembles many African nations.

“In 50 years after independence, Malaysia has strived and turned into a vital player in Asia,” he told Malaysian reporters after the first convocation of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (Limkokwing) in Gaborone recently.

Describing Malaysia as an “Asian Tiger”, he said Botswana was looking forward to sharing experience and knowledge on how Malaysia had managed to build so many institutions of higher learning which were vastly recommended globally.

“Botswana is a nation with majority Africans, but is still at the bottom line of its socio-education hierarchy.

“Chinese and Indians are doing well in Botswana. So we want to bridge the gap. Thus the establishment of Limkokwing in Botswana will surely benefit us,” he said.

Mogae, who was conferred an honorary doctorate honour in humanity at the ceremony, said he was confident that the younger generation of Botswanians would achieve the best by enrolling at Limkokwing.

He said the institution had changed the mindset of the Botswana people and boosted their confidence to grab the opportunity in information technology.

About 6,000 students from various countries are pursuing their diploma and degree courses at the university’s Botswana campus, which was opened last May.

Its founder and president, Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing, said: ”The building of this campus might have taken just three months, but the journey to Botswana has taken 16 years. That is how long we have been established.”

He said the main campus in Cyberjaya housed 400 Botswana students and the majority of those who had graduated had returned to Botswana and were doing well in their careers.

Most of the staff and lecturers in the Botswana campus were alumni of the university, he added.

Meanwhile, after successfully establishing six campuses in three continents, Limkokwing is now ready to open another in New York.

Once the New York campus is up and running, the university will be the first Malaysian higher learning institution to have achieved such a feat in the American continent.

Lim said it would be a significant milestone for Malaysia and elevate the country as a global player in the education arena.

“We have already covered three continents, namely Asia (Malaysia, China and Indonesia), Europe (London) and Africa (Botswana), and now the time has come to introduce Limkokwing University with the brand of Malaysia to the Americans.

“Our aim is to make an impact in new dimensions of learning and to show that our (Malaysia) education system is acceptable by anyone and anywhere,” he said.

He said the New York campus would be opened by the middle of the year.

“We are in the process of finalising the location to set up the new campus. Most probably it will be in Manhattan. Many may ask why New York. The answer is simple, because New Yorkers are very aggressive in terms of creative innovations and the arts. It’s a good market for us,” he said.

Currently, the university operates six campuses in three continents and has a collegial network of 160 universities and colleges across 65 countries.

Lim said that apart from New York, the university would open two more new campuses this year in Lesotho (Africa) and Bali, Indonesia.