09 Dec 2015

Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Advocate Sadique Kebonang said the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) has and will be of great benefit to SMEs.

Speaking at the official launch of the transfer of PSDP from the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) to Business Botswana, he indicated that necessary expertise have been put in place to take PSDP to another level with the impending closure of CDE in Botswana, with the extension going to December 2016.

Ambassador in the European Union delegation in Botswana said the commitment of Botswana’s government to help the private sector to play its due role in building the economy further and sustain Botswana’s success story is commendable.

Mr Alexander Baum said the EU’s commitment to remain present and relevant as a friend and partner of Botswana and provide support where it is needed is unrivalled.“The PSDP was developed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, BOCCIM now Business Botswana, in partnership with the EU and CDE and it was meant to address some key areas of the private sector development strategy,” he said.

He further said 2 years ago, the EU signed a contribution agreement of P25million with CDE for the implementation of the PSDP and CDE has been partnering with Business Botswana in the implementation of the programme.

CDE is a specialised joint ACP/EU organisation under the Cotonou Agreement and since CDE will be closing shop in Botswana, Mr Baum said through dialogue with government and other key stakeholders, an appropriate solution was found; hence Business Botswana will now be the implementing agency to drive the programme to its completion.

Mr Baum further said the development of the private sector is an important corner stone in government’s drive to sustain economic growth in Botswana.

“Growth and expansion of private sector, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises can be a powerful driver of broad based economic growth and the main future source of job creation,” he said, adding that various institutions and policies that government has put in place can indeed be taken as testimony for government’s commitment to help the private sector to develop itself.

He further said the EU has signed a grant agreement with Business Botswana for a little over P12million to enable the organisation to implement the remaining activities and responsibilities of PSDP.

“The grant will be implemented over 13 months under the management of a coordination unit that has been transferred from CDE,” he said.

Outgoing CEO of Business Botswana, Ms Maria Machailo-Ellis said PSDP was developed in 2008 and implementation started in 2013 and there has been major milestones achieved.

“The estimated budget of implementing this programme stood at P700million when it was drafted and we still have a long way to go,” she said.She applauded all the partners that have been involved with the programme. Ends