02 Dec 2021

In an effort to save employment, Government has mandated National Development Bank (NDB) to prioritise tourism related projects in the North West district.

Despite being known for supporting agriculture sector in the Pandamatenga and Gantsi farms, the plan was to ensure that NDB helped the two districts of Ngamiland and Chobe turned into a successful tourism story.

NDB Sales Executive in Maun Mr Gotsileene Lempadi said this at LAHA Hotel five years anniversary and renovation celebration in Maun on November 30.

Mr Lempadi said, “We are putting up facilities to finance businesses such as mobile safaris … there is willingness from government to see Batswana participate in tourism and people should use the opportunity,” he said. He also said NDB was given funds by the government to assist business that had been affected by COVID-19 to help in resuscitation process.

Entrepreneurs, he said must be clear about what they needed when approaching financiers such as NDB. He said apart from providing financial support, NDB also provided mentorship.

He noted NDB supported LAHA hotel although they were not the initial funders.

LAHA owner Ms Hanna Lecha said the hotel was part of her bigger vision, when she quit her lecture job at University of Botswana as a Biologist 18 years ago.

Initially her desire was real estate, and she acquiring a number of plots in Maun and other parts of the country.

She started her property business by building four bachelor pads at Sedie ward in Maun for multi residential business.

“Later on the vision became big and I co-owned it with my husband Lawrence Lecha and that’s how we acquired the LAHA hotel and named it LAHA from Lawrence and Hanna,” she said.

She said realising that multi residential business was limited they needed something that could generate income daily and that’s how LAHA hotel was birthed.

She said LAHA took about four years to build as they self-sponsored it to avoid loan.

“Even the furnishers were not up to the desirable standard due to inadequate funds,” she said.

Ms Lecha said she registered for a TOKAFALA programme last year, which helped her to come up with a strategy to improve the hotel and put in systems that helped to monitor the business.

Ms Lecha said a lot had been achieved with the little resources.

So far she had managed to replace the ceiling, repaint the whole hotel, add quality curtains, mount showers in selected rooms.

She was now planning to change furniture. TOKAFALA Real Enterprise Growth, Business Manager Mr Nyaladzi Monyamane said that due to COVID-19 TOKAFALA focused on survival model in the tourism sector instead of growth as their main focus.

Mr Monyamane said they helped businesses to look at ways of survival by considering what key resources the businesses had and using them to optimum use while minimising operational costs.

They assisted the tourism sector with marketing and survival strategies, as they had to penetrate the local market.

LAHA Hotel, he said successfully employed the COVID-19 survival strategy, and managed to retain its employees and even hiring new employees. Ends