10 Jun 2014

Deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry responsible for economic diversification drive (EDD),  Ms Peggy Serame has said there is need to provide robust energy infrastructure in the SADC region in order to ensure adequate provision of energy resources.


Speaking at the world accreditation day commemoration in Francistown recently, Ms Serame said the increased number of households and businesses that used energy increased the demand because energy was an engine of growth.


Ms Serame said this year’s theme, Accreditation: Facilitating World Trade, inspired Botswana to double its efforts in ensuring that there was sufficient energy resources to drive all sectors of the economy.


“Botswana still imports most of its energy resources and it is imperative for us as a country to accelerate implementation strategies and programmes that will ensure that we attain national energy security,” she said.


She, however, said government continued to invest heavily in the energy sector on a number of projects and confident that the national energy security would be achieved.


On accreditation, Ms Serame said it provided testing and inspection of goods and services produced and used by the industry and energy sector.
 She noted that accreditation brought confidence in the market place and fully supported a number of government initiatives including the EDD.


She said meeting the quality standards enhanced the competiveness and acceptability of goods and services for both the local and export markets. 
Ms Serame said the Southern African Development Community Accreditation Service (SADCAS) has accredited 24 facilities in six SADC member states with four in Botswana.


She noted that the government established a National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP) to promote the benefits of accreditation and market SADCAS activities. 
 SADCAS chief executive officer, Ms Maureen Mutasa said for businesses, accreditation was an essential tool for decision-making, risk management and brand recognition while for customers it was a reassurance of quality goods and services.


“Accreditation provides peace of mind and assurance that the products and services used in the provision of energy in daily life have been verified by conformity assessment bodies against national and international standards,” said Ms Mutasa.


She appealed to businesses, governments and regulators to embrace accreditation and make it work for them. Ends