10 Apr 2014

Several challenges are said to be hampering the economic growth of the North East District.

The district commissioner, Mr Rapetse Mathumo said when giving an overview of the district’s economic viability at the beginning of a Vision 2016 Smart Partnership workshop in Masunga recently.

Among the challenges, Mr Mathumo cited the successive Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks in recent years, a situation he said had worsened the state of poverty a lot of families in the district had been living under.

He said many households whose livelihoods were heavily dependent on livestock rearing had been affected, resulting in the lower economic status of families dropping to even lower levels.

Mr Mathumo noted that the low population in the district continued to negatively affect business enterprises; indicating that the population in the majority of villages remained at below 5 000 people.

Another problem cited included shortage of accommodation throughout the district which he said had resulted in some government departments and businesses from the private sector servicing the district from the nearby city of Francistown.

Mr Mathumo however, highlighted some positives about the North East district; one of which he observed was the continued good performance of students in the district schools, particularly at primary and junior secondary school levels.

This, he said was evidence of the district’s ability to contribute to the production of a skilled and highly competent workforce.

He also noted that the district had great tourism potential which could be tapped into to drive economic growth; in the process helping in curbing the high unemployment rates through job creation.

Mr Mathumo also indicated that the district was currently doing well in the implementation of poverty eradication programmes aimed at uplifting the lives of the less privileged Batswana.

For his part, Mr Raiphus Seshoka, an economic planner with the North East District Council (NEDC) also concurred that there were indeed some problems bedeviling the district such as shortage of serviced land, the poor state of internal roads as well as the lack of interest in joint ventures by locals.

Mr Seshoka however pointed out that the district had been blessed with good soils suitable for various agricultural activities.

Furthermore, he noted that the fact that the district had preserved its culture was a positive that could be used to lure both investors and tourists, something that could in turn contribute greatly to efforts aimed at creating jobs for the locals.

He also informed the participants that for years now the North East district had been enjoying good local governance, saying there was a good relationship between the various local administrative structures operating in the district.

The three-day workshop which brought together various stakeholders was held to among others; develop a district roadmap for implementing Vision 2016 goals. ENDS