29 Mar 2017

The LEA/Stanbic Bank awards seek to recognise excellence among those who are enrolled at the Glen Valley Horticulture Incubator.
Speaking at the awards ceremony in Gaborone recently, Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) deputy CEO, Ms Masego Gwaila-Madanika said the key objective of the event was to encourage incubator clients to adopt and implement good horticulture management and business practices in their enterprises.
She said the initiative, which is part of the Stanbic Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, started in 2013.
She further said they recognised that entrepreneurship development required partnership with various stakeholders, hence they have partnered with Stanbic Bank in furtherance of the objectives of the Glen Valley Horticulture Incubator.
“Within the scope of this partnership, Stanbic Bank committed P250 000 to be awarded to the best performers among entrepreneurs enrolled at the Incubator,” she said.
She noted that trainees were trained on both enterprise and crop management through different workshops.
“LEA afforded them a practical experience to have a feel of what enterprise management entails, particularly on best industry practice as far as crop management/husbandry is concerned,” she said
She added that trainees had also appreciated marketing strategies during the programme to enable them to enhance the marketability for their produce.
Ms Gwaila-Madanika encouraged graduates to start their own horticulture enterprises so that they could produce and feed the nation.
For his part, head of business banking at Stanbic Bank, Mr Calistas Chijoro said money provided by Stanbic Bank would be awarded to the selected three trainees and this comprised those who had achieved outstanding production results during their incubation period each cropping season.
He highlighted that the prize money would finance the trainee’s place in the programme for the next cropping season.
“This includes exposure to production of high value vegetables under greenhouses, shade net houses and tunnels,” he added.
He said the incubator programme enhanced the technology transfer to clients through the administration of mentoring programmes and the provision of infrastructure to its clients.
“We celebrate the three top performers and I commend you all once again, we are grateful to see the fruits of our investment,” he said.
He thanked clients for showing passion and excellence in making the dream of a more diversified economy. ENDS