27 May 2019

Lucara Botswana community relations officer, Mr Babatshi Gasha has encouraged residents of Kumaga in the Boteti District to start operational co-operatives.

Mr Gasha said Lucara Botswana had realised the need to fund sustainable initiatives such as co-operatives to give back to the community.

Speaking at a Youth Entrepreneurial workshop organised by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) in Kumaga on May 24, he said the company had spent a lot of money in once off events in the past, which had no visible results.

Mr Gasha said Lucara Botswana had since halted funding individual entrepreneurs, since the projects failed due to lack of financial management on the part of beneficiaries.

He observed that co-operatives had been proven to bring positive results as well as job creation. He therefore encouraged Kumaga residents to map out viable ideas and form co-operatives to stand a chance of benefiting from the programme.

He noted that the programme piloting started in Mokubilo in the form of a vegetable co-operatives project, while two other villages would be piloted before the end of this year.

Mr Gasha said once the piloting had been completed, it would be rolled out to other villages in Boteti District in 2020.

He observed that the Mokubilo project was promising, since the farmers were already selling to the big supermarkets in the country, adding that the current farmers would be empowered to start their own farms and make way for others.

He noted that the challenge in most villages was defunct cooperatives. Therefore he urged Kumaga residents to reposition themselves by having a running co-operative by next year.

Mr Gasha also urged youth to be actively involved in cooperatives to help address the challenges of unemployment instead of searching for under-paying jobs.

Further, Mr Gasha said financial literacy and management was what led to the collapse of many Batswana businesses.

He said it was unfortunate that about 80 per cent of businesses failed in Botswana, although the business proposals were assessed by the institutions, a challenge he said needed concerted efforts.

The Local Enterprise Authority branch manager - Serowe, Ms Kgomotso Masunga urged Kumaga residents to work in groups to succeed in entrepreneurship.
Ms Masunga said ‘record keeping is key to business success’. ENDS