23 Aug 2022

Absa Bank Botswana has sponsored Gaborone International Music Concert (GIMC) jazz festival to the tune of P300 000 as one of its efforts to promote arts and culture.

The jazz festival scheduled for GICC on Saturday will feature the likes of Judith Sephuma, Berita, Mpho Sebina, Dato Seiko, Sereetsi and the Natives, Fifi Afrika, Bakang Lenyaola, Samantha Mogwe and McJon Mosenene with Losika Seboni as the master of ceremonies.

Announcing the sponsorship in Gaborone on Monday, Absa acting managing director Krishnan Menon said the sponsorship came  at a time when the focus was on supporting communities in areas of arts, culture and sport.

Menon said the support was part of the fundamentals of their citizenship strategy, adding that partnership with GIMC was also a great opportunity to drive the bamk’s brand visibility and strengthen its spirit of Africanacity.

“As a business we are deliberate and we take time to understand that some of our customers will appreciate being part of a world renowned festival,” he said.

Menon further said as a Top Employer Award recipient, the GIMC jazz festival would allow the bank to entertain and engage with their prestige clients and build client relations while offering them a memorable musical experience.

Head of marketing and corporate relations, Dennis Mambure applauded GIMC and the organisers for their role in driving cultural tourism, which he said was important for the economy.

He said it was the bank’s strategic intent to always partner with programmes that did not only bring vibrancy to the economy, but were also aligned with government policies.

Mambure said Absa Bank Botswana had participated in agricultural events as well as cultural and sport tourism activities, which were key to the economy.

He said as a business they strove to invest in projects and assets that they believed gave value to the organisation.

Appreciating the sponsorship, Thapelo Pabalinga said it would assist GIMC to present an event of international standard.

Pabalinga said organising and preparing for an event of such a magnitude was challenging economically and noted that it was difficult to deliver a well organised event without partnership from corporate or sponsors.

“There is a certain formula that we need to follow, where 35 per cent of the money will be from gate takings while 65 per cent has to come from corporate sponsors,” explained Pabalinga.

He also noted that festivals did not make money as most people perceived and expressed gratitude towards Absa, saying the support would go a long way in presenting a well-acclaimed jazz festival.

Furthermore, Pabalinga said the Absa spirit of Africanacity resonated with GIMC’s vision of being one of the biggest Pan African festivals.

“We have deliberately hosted artists from various African countries such as Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Namibia as well as as far as the United States, to purposely expose our culture to the world and bring different cultures to our country,” he said.

He said the GIMC value chain went a long way in creating economic activity, noting that various sectors such as aviation, hospitality, transport and others in the small-medium and macro enterprises level would benefit during the week of the music concert. ENDS