11 Feb 2016

The processing of applications for the Economic Empowerment Scheme sometimes take long due to delays in re-submission where applicants were to close gaps. 

The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu said some of the contributing factors included failure by applicants to submit supporting documents, lack of meticulousness in company details where in some cases there were variations in documents submitted such as company names and bank accounts and group dynamics where members might be in conflict resulting in some resigning, hence re-constitution of membership. 

Mr Batshu said his ministry had reviewed the programme to amongst others accommodate funding individuals and community projects. In addition, he said there were also looking into capacitating Gender Affairs Department to intensify support.

Outlining the procedure and process for funding projects under the Women’s Economic Empowerment programme, Mr Batshu said his ministry through the nine offices received applications for funding and business proposals, which were then checked and validated by district offices before submission to headquarters for assessment.

He said where proposals were found to be lacking at district level, beneficiaries were informed of the gaps and given an opportunity to re-submit with a one month deadline.  “Once the process is completed, proposals are forwarded to headquarters for validation in preparation for site assessment, which involves direct interaction with beneficiaries at the proposed business site to ascertain the environment of the project to inform project viability,” he said.

In addition, he said upon completion of site assessment, a report is prepared for consideration by the Project Assessment Committee (PAC), which comprises of members from various sectors with various expertise, including government. The turnaround time was 59 days, he added.

Minister Batshu was answering a question from MP for Francistown West, Mr Ignatius Moswaane who asked him if he was aware that the Gender Affairs Department took too long to process applications for the Economic Empowerment Scheme. Ends