09 May 2019

Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) chief executive officer, Dr Racious Moatshe, says the business consultancy regional offices have been commissioned to identify untapped opportunities to assist in growing and sustaining small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME).

Dr Moatshe told media during a tour of LEA assisted enterprises in Shakwe and Mahalapye recently that business opportunities differed from one locality to another.

Therefore, it was important to establish each region’s potential to provide SMME with relevant guidance. 

The media tour covered Chakanaka horticulture farm as well as Shakwe and Diponeng Hotel in Mahalapye. 

He said LEA was guided by opportunities when providing guidance and mentorship to entrepreneurs, adding that record keeping was a fundamental component to the development of a business enterprise.

“We are currently working on profiling all the businesses under our tutelage. We must establish what is being produced and consumed locally,” he said. 

He said profiling the SMMEs would assist in identifying the products produced locally, their quantity, quality and where they were produced as well as in identifying available opportunities. 

Such a database, he said, would guide the authority in drafting the relevant policy guidelines that would advise government when catering for the development of the enterprise sector.

Dr Moatshe commended the SMMEs for working hard towards producing quality products and services. 

“I must assure you that quality of products and services provided by SMMEs is no longer an issue, but whenever a need arises to improve, we are here to help,” he said. 

He said profiling of SMMEs will also guide on improving quality, identify market challenges and emerging business opportunities.

He said it was unfortunate for government to be spending billions of Pula importing goods and services, adding that growing SMME will go a long way in assisting government to reduce the import bill. 

Sustaining SMMEs will not only create employment opportunities, it will also grow and diversify the local economy, he said. 

Dr Moatshe also indicated that LEA was establishing relationships with different stakeholders and even individuals towards working as a collective in empowering SMMEs. 

He said the different stakeholders who were directly or indirectly linked to the business sector were key to LEA’s delivery model. ENDS