23 May 2021

SmartBots continues to seek support from development partners worldwide for its rollout strategy aimed at delivering a smart and sustainable society. 

Its efforts are bearing fruit as last month, the European Union (EU), through its Africa RISE initiative, availed funding to implement two key projects which will result in the development of a national innovation capability framework and a digital business package for women entrepreneurs. 

These endeavours dovetail  with President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s recent announcement that digitisation was one of his five new priorities.

The objective of the EU support is to ensure digital inclusion of local informal sector women entrepreneurs to build their capabilities and enable them to engage and thrive in today’s digital economy. 

This target group has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which has also disrupted  its  income generation streams. 

In an interview recently, Dr  Mihaela Balan, EU Africa RISE senior monitor and evaluation expert as well as deputy team leader, said the project was one of the first assignments to commence under the initiative.

She said it would ensure that women micro-entrepreneurs were empowered with knowledge, skills, digital products to take advantage of opportunities offered by the Internet.

“ICT has the potential to boost women and girls’ economic, political and social standing and help low-income women to support their families. 

Therefore, this package will empower women and build their confidence to run competitive and sustainable businesses,” she explained.

According to SmartBots, the project, scheduled to kick-off in June, is expected to increase the uptake of e-commerce by women entrepreneurs.   

In addition to developing digital business packages, EU Africa RISE will provide technical assistance for the development of a national innovation capability framework considered critical to the improvement of coordination and effectiveness of the Botswana innovation ecosystem. 

The framework will seek to strengthen SMMEs’ innovation capacity to make them more competitive.

The need for the framework was necessitated by the low commercialisation of home-grown innovations into sustainable solutions.  

It is expected to be a key driver in the transformation of Botswana Innovation Hub into Botswana Digital and Innovation Hub as envisioned by the SmartBots strategy. Ends