01 Feb 2022

Marekisetso Market and the Poverty Eradication Coordinating Office have partnered to empower small-scale businesses who operate from their homes.

Speaking at a seminar in Gaborone on Sunday, chief executive officer and founder of Marekisetso Market, Mr Rahman El-kindiy said the intention was to empower and develop entrepreneurs belonging to the cottage industry across the country.

Mr El-kindiy said small-scale entrepreneurs belonging to the sector incurred unique challenges in taking their products and services to the market.

However, he noted that home-based businesses or cottage industries had developed some countries and that the legacy lived on to date.

Mr El-kindiy gave the example of Turkey, saying their unique and elegant rugs were handcrafted inhouse and sold for millions all over the world.

He noted that the concept of cottage industries or home-based businesses was also widely practiced in Botswana from the early 1700’s as the indigenous people traded with ironmongery and sold goods made from iron.

He encouraged home-based entrepreneurs to protect and patent their products which might also be the nation’s heritage, noting that big industries could emanate from them.

He said his objective was to nurture determined home-based entrepreneurs that currently produced at the micro level in their kitchens and garages.

Mr El-kindiy said for every business the greatest asset was the owner as the custodian of the vision.

He said although garage industries faced challenges in accessing finance and expanding into bigger entities, his objective was to help them compete with established multinational companies.

He noted that home-based businesses also provided economic opportunities through employment and income generating schemes.

The guest speaker and public relations officer at the Department of Poverty Eradication, Ms Mpho Zachariah said essential to the survival of every business, was the availability of a market to sell products and services.

Ms Zachariah said the main reason they forged ties with Marekisetso Market was to access the market and capacity-building in small-scale businesses.

She said clients enrolled with her office were mostly stricken by poverty, but that it was government’s commitment to ensure that every Motswana lived above the poverty datum line. She said they identified people in extreme poverty through social workers and funded them to start a small-scale home-based business.

Ms Zachariah noted that over 2 000 people had graduated from their poverty eradication scheme and that it demonstrated that the people had developed the zeal to grow their businesses.

She encouraged home-based entrepreneurs to take advice rendered by experts if they wished to build sustainable businesses.

She said the business community should join forces with government to grow home-based businesses. ENDS