24 Sep 2020

The Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency (CEDA) has spent less on business financing in Lobatse compared to other areas since 2003.

Making a presentation to Lobatse full council on Wednesday, CEDA chief executive officer, Mr Thabo Thamane, said the agency spent a total of P73 million on businesses in Lobatse and surroundings since its establishment.

He stated that the funding comprised P26 million in the manufacturing sector, P15 million in agriculture industry, and P13 million in the services operations.

The CEO added that the rest of funding were on other businesses including saloons and general dealers. 

The total investment value, according to the CEDA chief, was low compared to other areas where the agency spent around P400 million on average.

“We are not satisfied by our level of contribution in Lobatse and the catchment areas. The numbers show only P73 million worth of projects. That is not satisfactory,” he informed councillors.

Mr Thamane lobbied support from Lobatse Town Council to find ways of increasing business funding in the town by CEDA.

“We need to talk about how to improve this. How do we increase access to our people to participate in entrepreneurship? We have many initiatives around Lobatse such as the proposed leather park, milk business and other businesses. There are many opportunities that can come out of this town, which requires us to work together,” he said.

Explaining CEDA new guidelines, he said sectors were now divided into different categories for funding purposes.

Mr Thamane said sectors such as manufacturing, energy, mining, construction, technology and innovation, agriculture, tourism, and the creative industry, fell under special sectors category.

“These are sectors that have the potential to create many employment opportunities and reduce our national import bill. They can also help to diversify our economy from being too reliant on minerals. The study we have made on our manufacturing sector, for example, indicated that the sector provides many business opportunities,” he said.

He further said time had now arrived for Batswana to start playing a bigger role in the construction sector.

The CEDA head said loan interest rate for special sectors was now lower compared to other sectors.

Mr Thamane said the interest rate for medium businesses under special sectors was 2.75 per cent, compared to 4.25 per cent for non-special sectors.

For big businesses, he said, the loan interest rate was now 4.25 per cent for special sectors compared to 5.75 per cent for non-special sectors.   

Nominated councillor, Ms Malebogo Kruger, requested the CEDA chief to bring a mobile office to Lobatse to improve access to CEDA services in the town. Ends