02 Feb 2020

Establishment of Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) office in Francistown in March last year saw rise in the provision of 35 investor aftercare services leading to the investment of P93.25 million.

This also generated 92 jobs overall and was recorded across various sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture and hospitality.

The Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Ms Peggy Serame, echoed the sentiments when officially opening the BITC office on Saturday.

She explained that the office that served as a one stop business centre had implemented a robust investor aftercare programme to existing domestic and foreign investors.

The programme, the minister highlighted, encouraged retention, diversification and expansion of businesses as well as creating seamless business offerings from the head office in Gaborone.

Ms Serame noted that it was important for BITC to set up its presence in the northern parts of Botswana and ensured that in future, other services ‘which are not from the ministry are also provided to those who want to invest in the local economy.’

In addition, she implored the hospitality industry to up its game if it was to play a part in economic diversification and the resuscitation of the Francistown economy.

The new office, she further opined, had assisted the business community since it had cut the travelling costs to access services in Gaborone.

 “The establishment and launch of BITC Francistown office is only the beginning of a long journey. It is a testimony of government’s effort to take services to the people,” she said.
 

Ms Serame noted that government was alive to the challenges that were brought by the closure of the mines in the region, hence initiatives such as establishment of Special Economic Zones in Francistown earmarked for mining logistics, light manufacturing, financial technology and e-commerce.

The minister also explained that with the expected completion of the Kazungula Bridge, Francistown was expected to gain significantly from opportunities around cargo, distribution and logistics.
She further mentioned that consultants were busy preparing a business master plan anticipated to be concluded in September 2020.

The plan, she added, was expected to benefit the city and the country in a number of ways, amongst them, increased domestic and foreign direct investment, increased exports into world markets, generation of government revenue, foreign exchange earnings and employment creation.

Minister Serame also said a co-operation model between BITC, Business Botswana, city council, district commissioner’s office and Special Economic Zones Authority had recently been agreed to work jointly to promote the development of the city.

The chief executive officer of BITC, Mr Keletsositse Olebile noted that the office would speed up the provision of services to investors and boost economic growth and contribute towards employment creation.

He applauded the resilience of local businesses in the northern part of the country for persevering despite the harsh economic realities.

The office, he asserted would contribute towards the expansion of local businesses and export promotion.

On other issues, he added that the demand for services in Francistown and surrounding areas was the reason why the office had been established, noting that the role of the private sector in economic development could not be over-emphasised.  

For his part, Business Botswana vice president-north, Mr Humphrey Nawa said his organisation was appreciative of the office since they had long advocated for its establishment. ENDS