05 Aug 2019

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has been apprising Southern District farmers on government initiatives aimed at creating an enabling environment for business.

Speaking during the district’s agricultural show in Kanye at the weekend, Dr Masisi said agricultural production areas would be connected to the internet.

The aim, he explained, was to fast track connecting farmers to the internet for ease of business.

Dr Masisi said government had invested a lot of money in installing a fibre optic network cable with the view to connect all Batswana to the internet which would capacitate farmers to do research, sell and buy products online.

He said the process would be helped by the fact that mobile telecommunications mogul Dr Strive Masiyiwa was currently training some young Batswana on coding free of charge.

The skills they would acquire would empower the youth to connect Batswana to the internet, making it more affordable in the process, the President said.

President Masisi also spoke of government’s intention to create a ministry of small businesses and enterprise to take charge of programmes such as LIMID, Poverty Eradication, Youth

Development Fund and Department of Gender Affairs empowerment scheme.

The ministry, he explained, would focus on making Batswana an enterprising nation.

To this end, Dr Masisi said government would remove bottlenecks such as licenses for small businesses in the likes of  tuck shops.

Only business categories with a bearing on public health and the environment would carry licenses, he said.

In addition, entrepreneurs would be allowed to operate from home. “You can even rent out a spare room to guests,” he said.

Dr Masisi said the recently signed the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement would give Batswana access to a market boasting 1.2 billion people.

“Countries like Tanzania have 20 million cattle, Mali 10 million, we can never have these numbers but we can sell embryos, semen from our quality breeds,” he said.

Noting that the show used to be among the best in the country, President Masisi encouraged the organisers to bring back its glory days.

Announcing a three-year sponsorship for the  show, Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) chief executive officer Mr Thabo Thamane said the organisation would inject P500 000 into the project the first year.

Farmers donated three heifers to First Lady Neo Masisi and commended her for being at the forefront of children and women’s issues and above all, for being Dr Masisi’s tower of strength. ENDS