16 Jun 2022

Business owners  have been urged to change their mindset and see themselves as having full potential to host multi-million-Pula companies.

“I have marketed Botswana to the international business community as a preferred destination of choice for the much needed investments. It will therefore be futile for us to be found unprepared and not in the know of our potential to receive investors and run the race with them,” President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi told the Maun business community on Wednesday.

 Addressing a business interaction meeting, he said his recent external trips were aimed at strengthening relations with strategic partners as well as seeking investment opportunities for Botswana.

But investment promotion and attraction into the country would be in vain ‘if you do not hit the reset button in your businesses’, the President said.

President Masisi apprised the gathering on the Reset Agenda’s importance saying government could not achieve the desired results without  private sector  participation.

The agenda, he said, was imperative for businesses as its primary focus was to eliminate activities deemed not to be working and replace them with ones that could bring better outcomes as well as to improve on those that would result in the desired change.

   Dr Masisi told the meeting, aimed at sharing experiences and challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, that government was committed to fostering collaborative and inclusive partnerships with the private sector in rebuilding the economy.

The President emphasised the need for full collaboration between government officials and businesses, primarily in the area of developing value chains. 

Dr Masisi said partnerships had borne fruit in the North West region citing the one between Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) and Debswana, Tokafala Programme, which facilitated the textile industry.

He said five clients in Maun had benefited and were being facilitated to supply Debswana with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for a period of three years while five other beneficiaries were supplying Khoemacau and BOTASH mines with PPE and school uniform.

“I therefore wish to see more of these partnerships across different sectors of the economy developing strong linkages even regionally and internationally,” said Dr Masisi.

He said entrepreneurs could invest in the most expensive technologies and re-engineer their processes but if they were not linked to those with whom they did business, they would not get the desired return on investment.

  President Masisi pointed out that a lot could still be done to improve the ease-of-doing business in preparation for investors who from time to time were eager to scout for investment opportunities.

   He outlined some of the major government projects aimed at improving the welfare of North West District residents and facilitating businesses.

They include North West extension grid project which supplies power to Khoemacau Mine and surrounding villages; the soon to be commissioned Mohembo Bridge and the Maun water and sanitation scheme.

President Masisi urged entrepreneurs who had been reluctant to access financial assistance under the Industry Support Fund (IFS), Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and LEA to come forward as the programmes were primarily aimed at ensuring business sustainability.

In her welcome remarks, acting Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Beauty Manake said government was aware that the district had been hard hit by the pandemic as most of its economic activities were in the tourism industry.

She said the meeting showed the great value the district attached to economic development.

 Ms Manake expressed the hope that the meeting would be impactful to ensure smart partnerships between government and the private sector in moving Botswana towards a high income economy. 

“Government highly rates diversified investment and development of sustainable industries which is the reason the meeting attracted the presence of producers, distributors, retailers and the service industry to ensure strong partnerships,” she said.

The meeting attracted over 100 small, medium and micro entrepreneurs as well as large scale business owners. ends