17 Feb 2016

The business community has been urged to apply for the national pride mark, which aims to market the country around the world. 

An official from Brand Botswana, Ms Salome Kamela, said it was important for business owners to use the Brand Botswana logo on their goods.

She made the plea during a business seminar organised by the Botswana Investment Trade Centre (BITC) recently. She said the brand would add value and have the branded products attract those wishing to come to Botswana. 

Ms Kamela said the logo would strengthen Botswana’s visibility and appreciation globally, differentiate the country from its African neighbours and also grow export revenue. 

BITC is the custodian of the national brand, and through the initiative, it sought to position Botswana to international audiences as an attractive place to visit, work and invest. 

The initiative highlighted the country’s national assets, including the people, culture, tourism attractions, business potential and reputation of good governance.

Ms Kamela said they intended to launch huge campaigns soon to sensitive the public about the pride mark and also encourage every Motswana to apply for the logo. 

The logo was described as a symbol of commitment by an individual or group in Botswana to instil pride in the community.

She said attracting investors to Botswana was a big task, which needed collaborative effort amongst all hence the need to work together and preach the gospel. 

In addition, she revealed that they would also go around and paint some shops with the pride mark.

She mentioned that efforts have been made to establish strategic partnerships to educate Batswana about Brand Botswana. 

Ms Kamela said they have partnered with the local talent show, Mokaragana, which airs on Botswana Television as well as the Son of the Soil annual event just to mention a few.

She urged everyone to be part of the exercise of bringing Botswana Brand to life by creating excitement around it and displaying appropriate behaviour that represents the country.

Ms Kamela said customer service in some government departments was reported to be undesirable and urged all to step up their game and ensure that they always provide excellent customer service.

She also revealed that they have lined up a number of activities across the country to educate the public about the need to have a national identity.

For their part, some entrepreneurs called on Brand Botswana to give the logo freely to all, to which Ms Kamela noted that as the brand custodian, they have to manage and monitor its use to ensure that it is used wisely. 

She said applicants are also given a book, which guides them on how to use the logo.

Entrepreneurs felt that Brand Botswana officials had not done enough to reach out to the tourism sector, especially in Ngamiland, which is the hub of the tourism sector. 

Ms Kamela assured them that they will come to Maun to address hotels about the national brand. Ends