31 Jul 2019

Sefhare-Ramokgonami MP, Ms Dorcus Makgato  has welcomed the proposal of  the Trade Bill which seeks to among other things,  simplify trade licensing procedures, to issue trade licenses and register trades and businesses within the council area.

Debating the bill in Parliament, Ms Makgato highlighted that it was pleasing that the proposed amendments strive to simplify the issuance of licenses by abolishing Licensing Committees and introducing the issuance of both licenses and registration certificates over the counter.

She said one of the national strategies for realising income redistribution and social justice was through the government support for small and micro-scale enterprises hence it was pleasing that government was removing all bottlenecks that hindered the ease of doing business in Botswana.

Ms Makgato stated that the proposed amendments would benefit Small and Micro-Scale enterprises which were fundamental to employment generation and economic diversification.

“SMME’s particularly in rural areas are starved of the time and resources to be able to deal with the bureaucracy that accompanied trade licenses application, as most startup businesses are located in remote areas with no accesses to government resources,” she said.

She said the amendments would also encourage the growth of SMMEs in the country which portrayed aspects of economic and commercial changes such as the declining importance of centralized mass production and the growth of the service sector which could be accommodated by SMMEs flexibility and specialization.

Ms Makgato also acknowledged the abolishment of the Licensing Committees saying it would reduce the turnaround time for issuance of licenses.
She also applauded the second reform which abolished ex-ante inspection of business premises prior to issuing a license for activities which do not have health and safety concerns.

She stated that elimination of bureaucracies that impeded on the attraction of foreign investors and economic growth was a longed-for move as it would contribute towards job creation and promote industrialisation.

Mahalapye East legislator, Ms Botlhogile Tshireletso applauded the proposed amendments.

She  however pleaded with the minister to carefully monitor part four of the bill which made a provision for reservation of certain trades or businesses for citizens or companies wholly owned by citizens and joined ventures where citizens have minimum beneficial ownership of 51 per cent.

Ms Tshireletso was of the view that there was a lot of fronting in the areas where business opportunity were strictly reserved for  locals.

Gaborone Bonnington South MP Mr Ndaba Gaolathe emphasised the need for government to ease doing business in the country.

He said government should invest in the quality of the civil service as key policy implementers.

Mr Gaolathe said the process to inculcate the customer service standards and the business culture in the public service should be a key factor to economic growth.

Such reforms, he said would not only make it easy for new investors coming into the country but would also smoothen domestic companies’ ability to access skills that might be needed from outside the country. Ends