29 Aug 2013

Companies that set up and expand in the country create employment opportunities, says the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Dorcas Makgato-Malesu.

Speaking at the ABSA Life rebranding on Tuesday night (August 27), Ms Makgato-Malesu said Barclays Life Botswana was a clear demonstration that Barclays Bank was determined to expand its footprints in Botswana and as a result creating employment and wealth. 

She said the private sector was regarded as the engine of growth because it had the capacity to create sustainable employment and economic diversification and said the government was accelerating efforts to work hand in hand with the private sector to diversify the economy away from diamonds.

Minister Makgato-Malesu said it was the government’s mission to create a conducive business environment for all players and enhance effectiveness in the coordination of financial sector hence several reforms had been adopted and were being implemented to propagate a seamless integration and synergy.

She further said the financial sector development strategy had been developed with the help of World Bank and the strategy, which would run up to 2016, outlines eight available opportunities around the legal, regulatory, institutional and product related reforms to address financial sector challenges.

Ms Makgato-Malesu further said ABSA Life Botswana now Barclays Life Botswana prided itself with some 130 000 policy holders and the forecast to report gross written premium of P150 million by end of 2013 and this show that Botswana is still open for business.

She stated that there is a newly introduced SADC investment Portal which has valuable information on the SADC investment climate and available opportunities and said having seen and appreciated the footprint Barclays is building continentally, one can only imagine what an important resource the portal can be to the Barclays group as it penetrates the SADC region and the rest of Africa. ENDS