02 Dec 2020

Government, through the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry and associated parastatals, has made efforts to cushion the business community from impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his response to a question in Parliament, the Assistant Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr Molebatsi Molebatsi said the ministry, through its parastatals, had instituted a number of measures since the advent of the pandemic to counteract its impact and ensure business continuity.

He said such measures covered all sectors of the economy as well as different sizes of businesses, from the informal to larger scale companies. “These measures included rental deferment, interest and repayment holidays, equity injections and loans and the development of standards by the Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) to support local manufacturers involved in the production of hand sanitisers,” Mr Molebatsi said.

He noted that free testing was offered to small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), and a rebate facility was introduced to facilitate the importation of essential items for Covid-19 protection, including medical and pharmaceutical supplies, grain milling, veterinary pharmaceuticals and motor vehicles.

Mr Molebatsi further said the government also availed P50 million to support COVID-19 affected companies under the BDC portfolio and P40 million working capital and repayment breaks for Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) clients.

“As a result of these efforts, 7 277 businesses of which 88 per cent or 6 430 were in the informal sector were supported and P352 million disbursed.  The parastatals assisted companies that were already in their loan books which did not have arrears prior to COVID-19,” Mr Molebatsi revealed.

He said all other services were still open to new companies and existing ones that did not meet the criteria. “With all the necessary measures put in place, companies across the spectrum which were not in arrears before the pandemic were duly assisted and able to create and preserve jobs,” Mr Molebatsi said.

In addition he revealed that under 3 000 SMME jobs were created and over 6 000 protected while for large-scale companies, 59 jobs were created and no job losses were recorded. “Companies that did not meet the requirements were assisted under the government wage subsidy scheme and were able to sustain their operations, although temporary layoffs were noted in some sectors such as manufacturing a, hotels and restaurants,” Mr Molebatsi said.

The most affected sectors, the minister revealed, was the services sector, including hospitality and tourism, transport, manufacturing and a large proportion of the informal sector.  The tourism sector, which includes accommodation facilities, game viewing, boat cruising and dining was also said to bear the effects of the pandemic while the manufacturing industry has not been spared.

“In an effort to mitigate against the impact of the pandemic and resuscitate existing businesses, Parliament has allocated P1.3 billion for the Industry Support Facility under the Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan,” Mr Molebatsi said.

He said of the overall amount, P700 million had been allocated to his ministry to support businesses with working capital. “Of this amount, P100 million will be administered by the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), to support the informal sector through grants, and the development of infrastructure such as small stock production incubators, market stalls and communal markets,” he said.

He explained that P300 million to be administered by CEDA would support SMMEs in the creative industry, agriculture, technology and innovation, manufacturing, tourism, construction, mining and energy as well as mentoring, training and branding. He also told Parliament that P300 million would be administered by the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) to support large enterprises with working capital.

Mr Molebatsi was answering a question from the Jwaneng/ Mabutsane MP, Mr Mephato Reatile, who sought to know the portfolios created during the state of emergency as well as those lost to date.

Mr Reatile further wanted to know the job opportunities and losses that occurred during the same period; sectors most affected by job losses and those which had an increase, as well as what mitigation plans put in place to address the losses. ENDS