By Paul Nyathi| Botswana’s newly inaugurated President Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi will today be making his first official international visit by making a courtesy call at President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office in Harare only a week into his inauguration.

According to a Botswana government statement, President Masisi will Monday pay a one-day state visit to Namibia and Zimbabwe.

The statement said the tour aims at deepening and broadening the scope of bilateral cooperation and discussing regional continental and global issues of mutual concern with his counterparts Hage Geingob and Emmerson Mnangagwa.

President Masisi will be accompanied by the International Affairs and Cooperation and with Transport and Communications ministers, Vincent Seretse and Onkokame Kitso Mokaila respectively.

The president and his entourage are expected to return to Gaborone later on Monday evening after short visits to the two neighbouring countries in a state charted flight.

President Masisi, 55, was inaugurated as Botswana’s fifth president last Sunday after President Ian Khama stepped down, ahead of completing the constitutional maximum 10 years in office.

Khama became a friend with Zimbabwe after Mnangagwa successfully executed a smart military coup over former President Robert Mugabe who Khama confessed to disliking for a long time.

Khama disliked Mugabe for what he openly described as impunity on Zimbabweans and dictatorship “which collapsed a once big Zimbabwean economy.”

In sharp contrast to Zimbabwe, Botswana is one of the Africa’s most stable countries and the continent’s longest continuous multi-party democracy.

It is rated as the least corrupt country in Africa by Transparency International and has a good human rights record a huge contrast to Zimbabwe.

The country which is home to tens of thousands of Zimbabwean economic refugees is faced with rising unemployment rate of about 18 per cent and an HIV/Aids epidemic.

“It is because of the peace and tranquillity that our leaders have sustained for so long that Batswana (people) have continued to enjoy relative prosperity,” President Masisi said after taking his oath.

“One of my top priorities as the president of this country will be to address the problem of unemployment, especially amongst the young people,” he said.