31 Jan 2019

Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), through the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) unit, has embarked on a mission to include the disabled community in developing and growing the country’s economy.

Speaking at an entrepreneurship and skills development workshop for people with disabilities in Francistown recently, the chief commercial officer at MITI, Ms Polly Lucas stated that the ministry focused on wealth creation, economic diversification and poverty eradication, adding that they wanted to ensure that knowledge imparted on Batswana also reached the disabled community.

“It is imperative for us as a ministry to make our environment conducive for the disabled to access information.It is not our responsibility alone, but the entire nation,” she added. Francistown City mayor, Ms Sylvia Muzila emphasised that the purpose of the workshop was to ensure and promote the rights of people living with disabilities in all aspects as well as to create an enabling environment for them to participate in the economy.

She further said the workshop presented an interactive platform for the ministry to share strategies with Francistown City Council as well as to provide an opportunity for sharing views on how the ministry could serve the disabled community better.

The mayor also pointed out that the workshop afforded the disabled community of Francistown an opportunity to interact with other local business owners to share experiences on how they could nurture and grow their businesses.

“Government recognises the hardships faced by the unemployed and the disabled. We implore you to create employment for others through businesses. This workshop is an opportunity to obtain in-depth knowledge on entrepreneurship,” she added.

In her address to local prospective business owners and business owners within the disabled community, a business advisor from Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), Ms Therisano Pilane highlighted that LEA had eased communication between the institution’s officers and their clients by training some officers on sign language.

She also highlighted services offered by LEA that were available for people living with disabilities, which include training and mentoring, business plan development facilitation, market access facilitation, project monitoring, record keeping and access to financial facilitation.

Ms Pilane informed attendants about the top 10 qualities that a successful entrepreneur should possess such as the ability to identify opportunities and take the initiative, moderate risk taking, perseverance, goal setting and planning, using feedback positively as well as information seeking and analytical skills.

“The world of business is not a bed of roses. There are challenges and it might take you longer to achieve what you desire,” she added. ENDS