23 Nov 2016

Limited resources have made it vital for the private sector to identify areas to partner with government in sport development.

This was said by Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development Kefentse Mzwinila at the sponsors’ appreciation dinner organised by Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) on Tuesday.

He said sport in developed countries was less dependent on government subsidy but rather it was private sector -supported and led by the private sector.

He said that has led to countries such as USA, UK, China and Australia, dominating in medal tallies in most of the sporting codes and international games.

“Businesses today, more than ever are called to use their vast resources for the good of society and to be sensitive to the potential harm of their actions on the environment.

Business should identify and partner with society to make the world a better place to live in, as the goals of society are also by default the ultimate goals of the private sector,” he said.

Furthermore, he said business therefore has to pursue such policies and make decisions which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of  society in which they operate and in so doing,  they should look beyond their company economic interests.

Mzwinila said brand association with sport can enhance the value of one’s products and services, adding corporate reputations are built by helping stakeholders find ways to use the corporate brand in their own lives.

Botswana, he said   has a team of young talented athletes such as Karabo Sibanda, Baboloki Thebe, Naomi Ruele, Gavin Bogopa who have shown greatest potential, adding that  they have what it takes to dominate the world rankings.

He therefore implored the private sector to identify their needs and support them to prepare for 2018 Commonwealth Gold Coast and Tokyo Olympic 2020 Games, and use them as their brand ambassadors to build their brand value.

In other news, Mzwinila said there were numerous benefits in sport apart from health benefit adding that benefit accrued to the nation were tangible, such as national pride, national identity and sense of identification.

Mzwinila therefore thanked Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited, University of Botswana and Choppies for supporting the Rio Olympic team and urged them to extend their partnerships to the upcoming Games.

Botswana Insurance Holdings Trust chairperson, Major General Bakwena Oitsile said Botswana Football Association has over the years started promoting grass roots development programme which would see young football players getting enrolled into the initiative.

He said there was a need for corporates to partner and to ensure that there was a pool of well-developed football players and play a role in the national agenda of the economic diversification drive.

“The need to be visionary is also key and is seen from the likes of Diacore marathon who developed a unique incubator for Botswana’s top long distance athletes, who have started training for Tokyo 2020.

Diacore has housed these athletes and with other patners have ensured that they have the best coaches,”he said. BNOC president Negros Kgosietsile thanked the government for their support saying they contributed immensely to give Team Botswana both preparation and participation support.

He also thanked Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited, University and Botswana and Choppies for supporting Team Botswana. BOPA