07 Apr 2016

The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batsu says the budget for the women empowerment programme is P30 million for this financial year.

“To date, a total of 693 applications for business funding have been received,” he said when responding to a Parliamentary question on Wednesday.

Mr Batsu said, as at the end of March, a total of 51 563 application forms were distributed to individuals although he highlighted that when people obtained forms, they usually would not have decided on whether they wanted to run business alone or in partnership; hence they collected forms as individuals.

He said the fund was created specifically to empower women for income generating projects and enterprise development, adding that the applicants were funded as individuals, companies, cooperatives, and associations.

“Men can only benefit if they are in the minority within a group of women. To qualify for support, individuals should make a maximum monthly income of P500 or less,” he said.

Mr Batsu said the projects funded were business ventures of the choice of applicants, as long as they could prove that the project was viable, adding  that funded businesses may be similar to those under the Youth Development Fund and Poverty Eradication Programme, while they may differ in magnitude and scope.

“Poverty eradication packages are prescribed and have financial ceilings of P15 000 for each package, whilst the women’s Economic Empowerment Programme financial ceilings range between  P100 000 for individuals and P500 000 for community projects and cooperatives,” he said.

Mr Batsu emphasised that the target beneficiaries of the women’s Economic Empowerment Programme were also different as the programme targeted women who do not qualify for either of the two programmes.

He said the suspension of hunting in Botswana was first instituted through the two programmes.

Mr Batsu was responding to a Parliamentary question in which the Member of Parliament for Gaborone North, Mr Haskins Nkaigwa, had wanted to know how much was budgeted for Women’s Affairs empowerment programme this financial year.

He had also wanted to know how many people registered to be assisted, how may applications had been given to individuals and groups to be assisted under the programme and also the criteria for funding. Ends