19 Sep 2018

Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) chief executive officer, Ms Verily Molatedi, has encouraged graduates of Imperial School of Business and Science (ISBS) to tstrive to contribute meaningfully towards economic diversification.

Delivering a keynote address during the ISBS graduation on September 17, Ms Molatedi urged the graduates to approach entities such as CEDA, LEA and Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Culture Development, which offer aspiring entrepreneurs business start-up capital.

She encouraged graduates to remain optimistic in whatever they do, saying that the 21st century was awash with many opportunities and challenges, but only the optimistic could rise above such and overcome challenges and turn them into possibilities.

She said tertiary institutions produced over 10 000 graduates annually, which makes the market highly competitive.

As such, graduates ought to make their skills attractive by innovative thinking and investing in their own personal brands.

She noted that personal brands increased employability, not just in Botswana, but even outside the country because it placed them above the crowd to remain competitive in the market place.

“Personal branding is about finding your unique endowments, natural gifts and talents that can be referred to as your unique value offering. It means you must have clear plans as to why and where you need to go and what has to be done for you to get there,” she advised.

She further implored graduates to make sure they diversify their skills by getting knowledge on the industry they are interested.

“Remember that our country is emphasising on a knowledge based economy, so getting as much knowledge as you can is vital.  It is the key to realising our economic diversification agenda. It hinges on your availability to be enablers in the country’s present and future economy,” she added.

For his part, the ISBS managing director, Mr Zaeem Anwar said they were a leading institution in the tertiary quality education and continued to do their best to be a pillar of the national development by making significant strides in the educational field.

He noted that in its effort to provide quality education and make a difference in the lives of many, ISBS was committed to its Corporate Social Responsibilities.

These include sponsoring students from rural areas as well as supporting various events in primary and secondary schools across the country such as prize giving ceremonies.

A total of 404 graduates received their diplomas and certificates from a range of globally recognised programmes such as Business Management, Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Human Resource Management and Marketing Management.

This year saw the first batch of degree holders graduating. ENDS