09 Aug 2017

An official from Namibia, Mr Magnus Kurz says Botswana has the potential to produce quality products that qualify for any market all over the world.

He urged Batswana to fully take advantage of the abundant natural resources in their areas and come up with sustainable income-generating projects.

Mr Kurz, who owns Nam-Barbeque Products in his country, made the sentiments after a successful training of some youths on basic business skills and how to manufacture charcoal processing kilns.

He has been running a charcoal production factory for more than 10 years and they had found a niche in the international market.

He was invited by UNDP officials to come and impart knowledge to the locals with a view that they would apply what they learned to improve their living standards.

However, Mr Kurz said the locals could come up with unique projects which some feel were impossible and end up making a killing in the market.

Some participants who completed a successful training on charcoal production have hailed instructors from Namibia for imparting business skills.

One of the business tricks he stressed was conducting market research to know where the market is.

Another one was commitment, determination and hard work as he said business is full of challenges and one should never stop pushing until they realised their dream.

“It’s easy to give up when everybody around you is telling you ‘you can’t do it.'"

You have to be around positive people in order to run a successful project,” he added.

One of the participants, Mr Othata Dikobe said they had learnt a lot from the training, adding that they learnt how to use the raw materials in order to improve their living standards.

“It was amazing how it took us many years to realise available opportunities surrounding us. Some of us doubted that we could process charcoal using dead wood, but after the training we realised it was possible,” he added.

He thanked the instructors for their patience and UNDP for always coming with easy and achievable projects, which the community could tap on, citing the holistic land management practices project undertaken at Hainaveld Farms.

The project aims to encouraged farmers to change their mindset towards rearing of livestock and try new management practices in order to make their ranches more profitable.

Mr Dikobe also noted that they had learnt business tricks which he said would help them run successful businesses.

He observed that many businesses had collapsed because owners failed to conduct a market research.  

With the little information they acquired, he said they would be strategic and come up with sustainable projects, adding that ‘in business when you fall down it would be not easy to come back’. ENDS