23 Mar 2021

Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Mr Tumiso Rakgare says the law provides tax incentives for corporate entities that are willing to sponsor sport programmes. Minister Rakgare said Section 51 of the Income Tax Act, Cap 52:01, provided for tax incentives to be extended to companies that donated to sport.

Furthermore, he said tax waivers may be granted for in-kind donations from outside the country in terms of Section 84 of the Customs and Excise Duty Act, Cap 50:01. He said the ministry believed that more could still be done to improve the benefit extended to companies that support sport. Minister Rakgare said companies had cited the cumbersome nature of the exercise of benefiting from Section 51 as part of the reason for not pursuing it.

“This could explain why sport sponsorships are limited and hard to come by. In this regard, the Botswana National Sport Commission has been tasked to consult sponsors with a view to propose improvements to the provisions that are in place,” he said. Mr Rakgare in the last five years, Mascom had spent P25.7 million, Orange Botswana P8.4 million and Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) expended P57 million in sponsoring football.

He said considering that sponsorship was critical for the development and success of sport, he encouraged the corporate world to invest in young people, to not only enhance their brands, but also to develop active and healthy citizens. Member of Parliament for Palapye, Mr Onneetse Ramogapi had asked the minister if there were any incentives in the form of tax reduction to companies that assisted in sponsoring sports. He said if there were incentives, were there any considerations to introduce such incentives, and if not, why not.

He also asked how much Mascom, Orange and Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) had spent in sponsoring football in the last five  years. ends