26 Aug 2013

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Dorcas Makgato-Malesu has encouraged residents of Tswapong South to take advantage of the various government incentive schemes available.

Speaking at an outreach programme dubbed: Operation Metlhala ya Khumo in Sefhare on Saturday, Ms Makgato- Malesu said support was available for people who wished to start a business as well as those who already owned a business and wished to expand it. Ms Makgato-Malesu said the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) was designed by government to assist an entrepreneur with a minimum of P500 and a maximum of P500 000 to start their own businesses.

She expressed concern that  in Tswapong South, there were too few people who had benefitted from CEDA and encouraged residents to set up businesses to create employment for others. The minister called on interested entrepreneurs to visit the parastatals under her ministry such as Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) to discuss their businesses and get help on how to establish or expand their businesses, and increase their chances of getting their loans approved.

She also encouraged entrepreneurs to visit Botswana Bureau of Standards in order to get technical advice and services in the area of standardisation to improve the quality of their products. Ms Makgato-Malesu pointed out that her ministry’s mandate was to provide a conducive environment for growing the economy and create wealth through investment, industrialisation, economic diversification and trade.

She noted that Metlhala ya Khumo was part of the ministry’s communications strategy to educate stakeholders and the general public about products and services that the ministry offers. ENDS