www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za RACA Journal I June 2025 5
News
BOTSWANA ' S ACHIEVEMENTS, CHALLENGES, AND FUTURE PLANS
The Botswana representative shared the country’ s progress and challenges in phasing out HCFCs and implementing sustainable refrigeration practices.
Botswana is currently in Stage 2 of its HCFC Phaseout Management Plan( HPMP), focusing on reducing its reliance on HCFCs. As of 2020, the country achieved a 35 % reduction in HCFC consumption, which is on track with its set targets. However, Botswana has not yet submitted its Kigali Implementation Plan( KIP)— a necessary step to phase down HFCs under the Kigali Amendment. The KIP is expected to be submitted by May 2025, with the delay seen as a positive development that will incorporate valuable insights from the local industry.
Most of Botswana’ s HCFCs are imported from South Africa and China, with South Africa being the main supplier. As South Africa has gradually reduced its HCFC imports, this has created challenges for Botswana’ s industry, which relies heavily on South African refrigerants. This growing concern is one of the key challenges facing Botswana in meeting its HCFC phase-out goals.
Botswana has established a strong regulatory framework to manage refrigerant imports and ensure compliance with international phase-out targets. The country operates a licensing and quota system for refrigerants, ensuring that only approved quantities are imported into the country. The Botswana National Ozone Unit( NOU) collaborates closely with South Africa and Zambia to authenticate refrigerant permits and ensure compliance, which is critical for strengthening regional efforts to meet phase-out goals.
Additionally, Botswana continues to engage with various national and regional stakeholders, including the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Association of Botswana( RAAB) and SADC RAC. These meetings focus on identifying further opportunities for collaboration, including consultations with customs and other government bodies to ensure compliance with international refrigerant trade regulations.
As part of its long-term strategy to build capacity in the refrigeration sector, Botswana has donated training equipment to three centres of excellence in the country. These vocational training centres play a key role in preparing future technicians who will be essential in maintaining refrigeration systems and ensuring the success of the HCFC phase-out.
Botswana is also planning to establish a refrigerant recovery centre, inspired by South Africa’ s effective refrigerant recovery systems. The new recovery infrastructure will be complemented by the distribution of recovery units to industry players.
CHALLENGES FACED BY BOTSWANA While Botswana has made significant progress, the country faces several challenges. One of the primary obstacles is limited resources, which impact the Botswana NOU. The NOU often struggles to meet the demands of industry associations due to financial and personnel constraints. Moreover, there are instances where companies request permits for refrigerants only after the goods have arrived at the port of entry, creating delays in processing these requests. Despite these challenges, the NOU strives to expedite the process and support industry compliance as much as possible.
Looking ahead, Botswana has several key priorities:
• Finalising the gender study: The outcomes of the gender study will inform strategies to increase female participation in the refrigeration sector.
• Continued collaboration: Botswana plans to host more joint border dialogues with neighbouring countries, strengthening regional cooperation on refrigerant phase-out and improving coordination across borders.
• Engagement in Multilateral Fund opportunities: Botswana is exploring opportunities to collaborate with other SADC countries on Multilateral Fund projects, which aim to support energy efficiency and refrigerant recovery.
• Refrigerant recovery: Botswana will continue efforts to set up its refrigerant recovery centre and distribute recovery units to the industry to ensure compliance with the Montreal Protocol.
Through these initiatives, Botswana aims to further strengthen its efforts in refrigerant management and align with regional and international commitments. The country ' s active participation in regional initiatives, such as the Refrigeration Without Borders project, ensures that it remains on track with broader SADC objectives and the global effort to phase out HCFCs and HFCs.
Part of an earlier presentation by Manyukwa on natural refrigerants.
www. refrigerationandaircon. co. za RACA Journal I June 2025 5