18 May 2022

Three young Batswana have won the TotalEnergies StartUpper Challenge of the year.

The trio of Mr Martin Moatshe of iFish who won the Best Creation Project, Mr Moabi Mmualefe; Best Start Up under three years and Ms Bame Rammala; Best Female; each received P100,000.00.

Speaking during the ceremony, in Gaborone on Tuesday, minister of Entrepreneurship, Mr Karabo Gare, said the government was continuously on the lookout for purposeful and innovative ways of engaging with the private sector to discuss and formulate productive partnerships that support socio-economic needs.

He recognised and applauded the efforts of the TotalEnergies Group and its local team, for its commitment to support the socio-economic development of Botswana, by continuing the promotion of citizen entrepreneurship and business linkages.

Mr Gare hailed TotalEnergies for assisting with, supporting and promoting initiatives, that not only contribute to the national GDP, but also ultimately to improving the livelihoods of young Batswana.

He said their efforts were aligned to President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Reset Agenda, which advocates for value chain development and putting Batswana at the heart of economic growth. Mr Gare said “we look forward to being a supportive partner to you to promote an environment that enables more of such initiatives”.

He further said TotalEnergies continued to be influential in the strengthening of the social fabric, by offering support to innovative entrepreneurs in the realization of their projects.

“This is evidenced by the recurring StartUpper Challenge, which both directly and indirectly encourages youth across numerous African countries, to not only put on their ‘innovative hats’, but simultaneously encourages commercial continuity and ownership of viable and sustainable businesses” he stated.

He said successful applicants would be equipped with the skillset to continue as sustainable lucrative entities, “which in most cases, also translates to poverty reduction, as a result of job creation through those entities”.

Mr Gare said he was proud of all the young Africans as they continue to exert themselves for the betterment of both their communities and their nations, by taking part in initiatives such as the StartUpper Challenge.

The TotalEnergies Managing Director, Mr Onward Tubela said the StartUpper Challenge was launched in 2015 and urged young Africans, across the continent, to submit project proposals on why their entrepreneurial idea deserves to receive support from  TotalEnergies’.

Mr Tubela said the competition was open to all individuals under 35 years who own a start-up or business under three years old.

He said the third edition of the challenge received a total of 13,885 applications from 32 African nations.

Mr Tubela celebrated all the 15 finalists, who successfully submitted their projects for the challenge, saying they were all winners, who had managed to take on the challenge of pursuing something that started out as a dream, no matter how big or small, against all odds. ENDS