17 Feb 2021

The government has come up with a number of financial packages to address challenges of cash flow for local businesses.

This was said by Kanye Administrative Authority (KAA) chairperson, Mr Simon Ramaphoi when addressing the sub-council session on February 15, noting that COVID-19 restrictions affected a lot of economic activities citing bars, hotels, liquor outlets, transport, and entertainment, among others in the sub-district.

He said government acted swiftly to respond to challenges posed by COVID-19 to cushion Batswana from the hardships emanating from such a move.  

Mr Ramaphoi opined that at the national level, the economic recovery and transition plan was launched to accelerate economic recovery and to attain long term economic resilience and fluidity. 

He was of the view that a National Development Plan (NDP) 11 and District Development Plan (DDP) 8 came at an opportune time as they would assist in identifying and analysing critical issues that needed to be dealt with in order to transform economic performance and social development path.

Mr Ramaphoi encouraged local authorities to intensify revenue collection efforts and explore other untapped potential revenue opportunities as well as to go robust in exploring Public Private Partnership to augment their Revenue Support Grants.

He spoke of the need to quickly restore economic activities and increase income base, adding that advancing of digital transition was considered one of the priorities to accelerate such a move.

He told the sub-council that digital transition was a noble shrug for the country considering the rapid shift internationally towards digital economy, emphatically pointing the new envisaged development would bring about improved economic performance, quality education, access to better health and improved service delivery.

“This also has the ability to stimulate the development of a business environment in the sub-region that would provide employment opportunities,” he said. He thus called for the sub-district and the nation as a whole to embrace transformation given that the status quo did not warrant ‘business as usual’ mentality. ends