26 Oct 2016

Two beneficiaries of the Youth Development Fund (YDF) and Poverty Eradication Programme, Mr Monei Gadise and Ms Bonno Dintweng have merged to form a leatherworks business.

In an interview, Mr Gadise (30) and Ms Dintweng (29) qualified in hides and skins tanning and basic leather works from Rural Training Centre in Mahalapye and Dibete respectively.

Mr Gadise said they came to a decision to form a business partnership because it gave them the platform to fight challenges collectively instead of individually.

This, he added well well with the Setswana idiom ‘moroto wa oesi ga o ele.’

For her part, Ms Dintweng said the partnership was of paramount importance as they both aimed at improving the leatherworks industry, reduce and abbreviate the dependence on other countries for leather products.

The partnership, she added, was also prompted by the fact that most poverty eradication hides and skins projects did not go beyond three months due to the inadequate equipment provided hence the partnership with the YDF beneficiary, who received more equipment and machines.

She lamented that the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development should revisit the decision to pay one employee for three months, saying it was not enough because the business would be just starting. 

She however said partnering with Mr Gadise helped as they had manpower at the end of the three months.

She noted that it was disheartening to find that there was no proper utilisation of hides and skins into by-products in a country where cattle exceeds the number of people.

They also encouraged other youth to invest in the manufacturing industry to help diversify the country’s economy.

The avid leatherworkers said preservation of culture should start with usage of leather like in the olden days, where a bride was welcomed to the groom’s home with a phate and traditional dancers put on leather attire.

The two business people also advised other youth to merge businesses to improve quality and create permanent employment to fellow citizens.

The duo’s partnership has already started bearing fruits as they scoped a certificate of excellence at Social and Community Development (S&CD) exhibition in the central district.

Mr Gadise advised the youth not to shy away from starting their businesses from scratch whether they have degrees or master, and to never fear failure as in the business world one is paid with two coins; experience and cash respectively.

He said the youth should benchmark from better skilled personnel to improve their businesses. ENDS