17 Nov 2015

Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) executive director, Mr Reginald Selelo says the centre will continue supporting new and existing foreign and local companies to grow.

Speaking in an interview during a media tour organised by BITC to F & G Botswana, Global Lubricants, Nortex and Francistown Knitters, Mr Selelo said BITC has already assisted some of the companies to acquire residence permits in order to import skilled labour.

Mr Selelo said BITC also helps the companies to seek alternative markets outside Botswana and has since taken them to trade fairs in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and other countries in the region.

“During these fairs, BITC pays for freight services for the companies' goods and exhibition space and the companies pay for their representatives transport fares and other expenses,” said Mr Selelo.

He further said the centre assists some of the companies to acquire land, citing that currently BITC assisted F&G Botswana to acquire the space in Dumela that it was currently operating from.

Mr Selelo said the centre was engaged in consultations with Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTCL) and Botswana Fiber Network (BoFiNet) to try and expand Nortex into neighbouring space. He said by expanding Nortex, they would be creating more job opportunities for Botswana.

Mr Selelo said BITC also encourages companies to expand and diversify into any opportunity available, and he noted that Nortex was one such company that heeded the plea as it diversified into another company called Matsiloje Portland Cement (MPC).

BITC chief operations officer, Mr Meshack Tshekedi said locals should take advantage of the opportunities created by foreign companies by providing materials and services to be used by the companies.

Mr Tshekedi noted that BITC aims at establishing backward and forward linkages among foreign and local companies. Ends