17 Mar 2019

 Government is committed to the creation of a conducive environment for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). 

This was said by Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry acting permanent secretary, Ms Keganele Malikongwa in her welcome remarks at the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) 2018-2023 strategy launch in Gaborone recently.

The SMME sector, Ms Malikongwa said, had the greatest potential to contribute significantly to the country’s GDP and overall economic growth. 

She said she believed growing the SMME sector was a solution to the economic challenges Botswana was facing. 

The challenges, Ms Malikongwa said, included unemployment, especially amongst the youth, low production capacity, high import bill and an undiversified economy. 

For that reason, she stressed that there was need to find effective ways of dealing with economic challenges and nurture SMMEs to prosperity and employment creation.She also urged all stakeholders to support the new LEA strategy in order to create a vibrant SMME sector that could boost the country’s economy.

Furthermore, Ms Malikongwa commended the LEA team for having assessed their organisation’s 10-year entrepreneurship journey of supporting SMMEs, which led to the review of their business model and transformation that was taking place.

Presenting the new LEA 2018-2023 strategy, LEA CEO, Dr Rascious Moatshe said the strategy was meant to optimise collaboration with identified patrons and manage stakeholders effectively. 

“This strategy differs from our previous strategies as it covers all sectors of the SMME doing business and will foster effective collaboration and partnerships, mainly for SMME development,” he said.

He said the five year strategy was also meant to maintain strong alliances with stakeholders “that will support their collective mandates and ultimately benefit the SMMEs and the larger economy.” 

In his closing remarks, LEA acting board chairperson, Dr Haniso Motlhabane said the new five year strategy was a sign that the authority was geared towards transforming the country’s business landscape.

The Local Enterprise Authority, Dr Motlhabane said, was central to the national agenda of entrepreneurship and enterprise development.

Therefore, in order to reach maximum potential and ensure that SMMEs grew into competitive and sustainable businesses that could compete globally, he said there was need for stakeholders in various fields to support LEA.

“Stakeholder engagement and strategic partnerships with relevant institutions are the cornerstones of the success of this strategy that has just been revealed, hence this stakeholder engagement forum,” he said.

The launch was meant to forge fruitful networks and linkages that could advance SMMEs growth with stakeholders and potential partners that had the capabilities to complement LEA’s mandate. ENDS