04 Mar 2020

The Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Ms Peggy Serame, on Tuesday presented her ministry’s budget proposal of over P1.1 billion to the National Assembly.

Presenting the 2020-21 estimates of expenditure from the consolidated and development funds during Parliament’s Committee of Supply session, Ms Serame presented a budget totaling P1 135 966.910, of which just over P1 billion would be for the recurrent budget and about P71 million would go towards the development budget.

The overall figure represented 1.6 per cent less than the total ministry budget from the previous financial year, but with the recurrent budget estimates a significant 35 per cent less than in 2019-2020.

Among the projects due to be catered for under the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) development budget would be a leather park project, set to take up P20 million, representing 28.2 per cent, as well as Doing Business Reforms Roadmap and the Botswana Economic Diversification and Competitiveness Programme among others.

The bulk of the ministry budget would be allocated to the recurrent budget, with over P832 million being shared by the ministry’s 12 parastatal organisations, with the five departments of the ministry having a total allocation of over P232 million.

Ms Serame told Parliament that her ministry was guided by Vision 2036 and the eleventh National Development Plan (NDP 11) as well as global and regional trends, adding that they would be guided by the pillars of inclusivity and sustainability in pursuing economic transformation.

“The Vision document and NDP 11 have set for us ambitious targets which challenge us to think differently and innovatively whilst we act with bravery and decisiveness, in order to transform this economy,” Ms Serame said.

Acknowledging youth unemployment as a major challenge, Ms Serame said her ministry would continue to pursue initiatives that would propel the growth of the manufacturing sector and upscale support for Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) to grow the economy.

MITI is working with local retailers to procure and promote locally manufactured goods, the minister said, adding that the initiative was being undertaken in recognition of the potential of local manufacturers to produce the requisite quality of goods for the market.
of this, the ministry is undertaking in partnership with development partners, the Supplier Development Programme. Through this programme, some large retailers are implementing capacity building initiatives for local companies,” Ms Serame said.

She revealed that through this programme, Cash Bazaar Holdings had selected five textile companies to supply their stores in Botswana. Another initiative, branded PhushaBW, aims to cultivate the appetite towards supporting locally produced goods and services.

Members of Parliament (MPs) gave different views regarding the MITI budget. Some applauded Ms Serame and her ministry for working towards achieving national development targets. ENDS