04 Oct 2022

Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Beauty Manake has urged Premiere Nickel Resources Botswana (PNRB) to procure locally produced goods and give priority to companies in the SPEDU region.

Ms Manake was giving a keynote address at the Tsholofelo carnival on the sidelines of the 56^th Independence Day celebrations held at Sam Sono Stadium on Friday.

PNRB has purchased part of the assets formerly owned by BCL.

She said the 56^th anniversary of independence was a time to reflect on the significance of the day, saying “introspection would afford the nation the opportunity to understand and appreciate who they are and to choose not to be shaped by the horrific and worst miscalculations of their mindset.”

For his part, PNRB chief executive officer, Mr Montwedi Mphathi said in redeveloping the mine, the company wanted to take all on board to help build a resilient economy that would create more employment for the people of Selebi Phikwe.

“We want to work with all stakeholders in the SPEDU region to achieve a common goal of resuscitating the economy of Selebi Phikwe and that of the entire SPEDU region. After this mine closes we do not want to experience what was experienced when BCL mine closed, we want people to rejoice” he said.

Mr Mphathi explained that their vision was to see Selebi Phikwe economy up with a very clean environment, thus urged the community to join hands with PNRB to clean the town.

“We want the investors to develop interest in investing in Selebi Phikwe. We want them to see a different town,” said Mr Mphathi.

He added that the carnival began with a three-day youth development programme to empower the young people to run the Selebi Phikwe economy, which he believed could only be resuscitated by the community.

Mr Mphathi added that the Small Medium Micro Enterprises needed support to help them grow. 

“I want Selebi Phikwe to be the cleanest town by 2024. With collective efforts from all stakeholders this could be achieved,” he said.

He said Independence Day meant that the community should celebrate their hard work, thus challenging all to have an input in transforming the economy of the town. 

The town mayor, Mr Lucas Modimana said this year’s Independence Day was special because of PNRB’s Tsholofelo Carnival initiative. That, Mr Modimana said, gave the entire SPEDU region hope that the company would help turn things around, adding the private sector was equally important in resuscitating the economy of the copper mining town.

“This is why we as government have to facilitate the private sector to enable them to create employment,” he said.

He also challenged the youth to contribute to the development of the town by coming up with viable businesses that would help create employment for Batswana.

The area MP, Mr Kgoberego Nkawana commended PNRB for its effort in helping to resuscitate the Selebi Phikwe economy.

Meanwhile, celebrated in the form of a carnival, the Independence Day celebrations started with a motorcade and parade from the town centre to all parts of the town in a bid to mobilise the community to be part of the carnival activities and also for them to witness the soft launch of PNRB’s Tsholofelo project, which symbolised the socio-economic hope that PNRB held for the SPEDU region. BOPA