26 Oct 2017

Assistant Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr Biggie Butale has challenged Batswana to utilise the Local Entreprise Authority (LEA) expertise and the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA)’s financial assistance to better their lives.

Mr Butale said LEA aimed at equipping Batswana with knowledge and skills on how to operate their businesses.

The assistant minister was addressing a kgotla meeting in Kanye on October 24.

He said LEA revolutionalised entrepreneurial ideas so that people could solicit financial support from institutions such as CEDA.

He encouraged all who were  interested in starting businesses to visit the LEA offices in order to be empowered with business knowledge and skills.

Mr Butale also advised residents to consider joint ownership  or create corporatives so that they could grow their businesses.

For his part, the Member of Parliament for Kanye South, Mr Abram Kesupile said Batswana should be encouraged to form joint partnerships to open businesses.

He said the fact that Batswana teamed up in occasions such as weddings showed that they could do better in cooperatives.

Most residents applauded the minister for the visit, adding that the meeting  had enlightened them about  LEA operations.

However, one resident, Mr Jackson Mosime was of the view that the idea of people grouping themselves to do business would not bear fruit, saying it was not easy to manage groups.

Another resident, Mr Mosimanegape Nnasau pleaded with government institutions to give first priority to local products over imported ones. ENDS