25 Feb 2013

The Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Keletso Rakhudu has appealed to communities to form cooperatives as they are a vital vehicle for income generation and employment creation, especially in rural areas.

Speaking at the ministry’s outreach programme dubbed Motlhala wa Khumo in Good Hope on Saturday, Mr Rakhudu said government has realised that most of the cooperatives failed because they were mismanaged.

He said people who managed them did not have the skills to do so, adding that it was important to arm such people with skills for the smooth running of the cooperatives.   

Mr Rakhudu explained that the cooperative societies' operations were guided by the Cooperative Societies Act of 1989, mainly in savings and credit, livestock marketing, farm implements, property developments, horticulture and poultry production sectors. 

He said numerous developments in the business environment have necessitated a revamp in the way cooperative societies should operate. The Cooperatives movement was established in Botswana in the 1960s.

In some countries cooperatives do well and contribute highly to the economy. For example, in Kenya the cooperatives contribute 43 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and in Lesotho and Tanzania the youth are actively involved in cooperatives.

He said the experience gained from these countries led to the development of a Cooperative Transformation Strategy for Botswana, which was approved by cabinet last September.

He was hopeful that the strategy would help citizens to join the cooperative movement and transform the sector as a whole.

Earlier when briefing the Good Hope residents about the mandate of his ministry, Mr Rakhudu said the ministry served to facilitate trade, create wealth to grow the economy in alignment and congruence with the Vision 2016 pillar of creating a Prosperous, Productive and Innovative Nation.

He said his ministry also drives the Economic Diversification Drive, an initiative aimed at diversifying the economic and the export base of the country into sectors that would continue to grow long after minerals have run out. ENDS