04 Apr 2018

Collaboration between Botswana Accountancy College (BAC) and the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) aims to build capacity for entrepreneurial development at the national level.

Speaking at LEA and BAC joint graduation recently, Assistant Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, Mr Fidelis Molao said the two parties agreed to cooperate on resource sharing, training, internships, consultancy and mentorship engagements through the BAC student-led consultant club called Business Hive.

“This initiative embodies one of my ministry’s core principles of collaboration, co-production and consumption,” he said.

He highlighted that to date, 70 student consultants had graduated from the LEA graduate consultancy programme in which graduates contributed by providing and implementing practical business solutions for LEA SMEs clients.

“I am delighted and proud to announce the completion of 41 additional consultants into the industry with entrepreneurial skills gained through engagement with enterprises from various sectors of the economy,” he said.

He added that the ministry recognised the role played by tertiary education providers in skills development and capacity building, saying it should be directly linked to employability and entrepreneurship.

“We therefore support initiatives between tertiary education providers and industry premised on promotion of experimental learning and entrepreneurial pursuit,” he said.

BAC executive director, Ms Serty Leburu said BAC recognised entrepreneurship as a key economic driver, and that it supported the government’s agenda on human resource development.

She said BAC had developed its 2018-2022 strategic plan themed 'entrepreneurship, employability and leadership through quality business education for economic growth'.

She said the aim of strategic plan was to align the college to the changing education landscape and business  environment as well as to provide solutions for Botswana economic issues such as unemployment.

She highlighted that to promote graduate entrepreneurship and further address the challenge of lack of employment among graduates, the college has started working on the introduction of entrepreneurship as a compulsory module in all the 12 undergraduate degree programmes.

Ms Leburu said the initiative would  ensure that BAC students had a good foundation and understanding of basic business principles. She said they would encourage them to use the knowledge gained to unleash their creative talents. ENDS