11 Apr 2019

In an endeavour to arouse and generate interest of aspiring women businesspersons and graduation of small and medium business women into larger scales enterprises, Women in Business Association (WIBA) president, Ms Nametso Ntsosa-Carr shares a story of her life in business.

Speaking during a workshop that sought to inject pace into women taking to businesses and those already in business to take giant steps forward, Ms Ntsosa-Carr narrated her journey in business as an effective spark plug to catalyse women into action.

Though her story could have been described as ‘living happily ever after’ and thereby devoid of the usual ‘rags to riches’ element that usually arouse especially the downtrodden in society, Ms Ntsosa-Carr story is laden with patience, commitment and self-belief among a plethora of positive superlatives required of a businessperson.

After getting married, her business scope widened and the plot of her life story fattened due to the exposure of living outside the country. 

That was before she returned to Botswana, owing to the ill health of her mother. 

She came back laden with business vigour and potency. 

Before venturing into a mining business in Zimbabwe, she had to sell her house in Sowa to raise capital to purchase machinery while leading an ordinary life of surrendering pleasantries associated with a woman’s lifestyle. 

However, due to her latitude in business, connections and contacts became one of her key winning formulas, which rendered majority of her exploits appear to be blessed with a Midas touch. 

To that she called for women to pray and seek wisdom in their business endeavours.  

In a demonstration that women had the capacity to venture into big money businesses, WIBA president revealed that in addition to her mining business (amongst the others she has under her belt), she was supplying Angolan government with Botswana beef.

Patient and persistence, Ms Ntsosa-Carr had to travel an uneven terrain to get her beef supply business running. 

She even brought contingent relevant meat experts from Angola to tour Botswana Meat Commission and assess all that was needed. 

The process, she said, took over two years.

In narrating her story, a woman who was born in Serowe and bred in Mahalapye, told the gathering how her business acumen was honed from a tender age when she had to tend to livestock during school holidays.

Consequently, Ms Ntsosa-Carr tapped on the analogy of ‘farrow claps’ put on donkeys by owners when going about their draught power business to render them fully focused as apt for women who seek to focus and succeed in their businesses.

For women to succeed, the WIBA president rallied them to dream beyond the borders of Botswana and indeed Africa.

Some of her stories and revelations left some astonished and in disbelief, especially that what they thought insignificant and less viable ventures in Botswana generated a lot of income when traded outside the country like beads from ostrich egg shells and morula nuts.

Having been a member of WIBA for a long time to a point where she once served as a vice president prior to her presidency, Ms Ntsosa-Carr rallied the women in business to join WIBA. 

“Connect to WIBA and connect to the right device,” she said.

She enumerated numerous benefits of joining WIBA, but warned they were not a financing institution unless one won a tender as a guarantee.

Ms Ntsosa-Carr would cite some incidents that showed women capability, but found that such practices lacked a thorough touch that could get them generating income.

In her narration, the WIBA president would carefully select her diction and weave her syntax to leave her audience under spell while at times throwing them in fits of laughter resulting from a fragranced ridicule.

In one of the veiled ridicule she showed how women would team up and raise lots of money (motshelo) only to disappointingly buy food instead of building materials, which could be used to build a house for rent or lease. 

To this some women nodded and cheered in agreement.

As part of tenets of WIBA existence to increase women participation in all sectors of the economy, especially sectors dominated by men, Ms Ntsosa-Carr challenged Serowe women in business to venture into all types of businesses and stop limiting themselves to selling food and small items.

Moreover, the WIBA president shunned laziness with all its manifestations, saying a lazy woman would not realise her potential.

For businesses to prosper, the WIBA leader advised that when striking business deals with those they supply, women businesses should emphasise on cash on delivery because she found that some businesses suffered while awaiting payments that often took longer than expected.

Further, she challenged women to grow a thick skin and set their eyes on their business targets at all times.

“Go to CEDA, get sent back and go back again,” she said as she geared women in to the spirit of persistence. ENDS