23 Oct 2022

 The Ministry of Trade and Industry recently held a consultative stakeholder meeting for the review and implementation of trade and liquor acts.

Speaking during the meeting, Minister Mmusi Kgafela said it was important to discuss pertinent issues affecting business licensing and the roles played by licensing bodies.

He said without the participation and support of relevant stakeholders, it would be difficult to achieve trade development and economic growth.

The minister raised concerns about challenges such as limited resources, but he appreciated efforts made by licensing bodies towards the economic aspiration of Botswana.

Mr Kgafela said licensing bodies were responsible for facilitating development of trade through issuance of licenses and that the duty had to be carried out independently as guided by the relevant statutes.

He said the decisions should be made unanimously by the committee and no application should be considered by an individual.

He, therefore, urged stakeholders to execute their duties with due diligence and within the confines of the law.

“Related and very important to note, are the request for exemptions from provisions of the Liquor Act, 2003 and its regulations that flood my office,” he said.

Mr Kgafela said few concerns had been noted with the way exemptions were handled, explaining that the ministry had since noticed that once a request for exemption had been acceded to, some control authorities did not wait for the statutory instrument to be gazetted.

However, the minister emphasised the importance of following procedure, adding granting an exemption did not excuse the applicant from satisfying other requirements of the law.

He urged officers to only issue a license where they were satisfied that all requirements were met.

On another note, Mr Kgafela said a bill was ready and will be shared following interaction with licensing bodies to solicit their input on the review of the Liquor Act.

He said the Trade Act was reviewed in order to reduce turnaround times for the issuance of licenses and registration certificates.

This, he said, had resulted in the issuance of Trade Licenses and Business Registration Certificates over the counter or within a day.

However, he said there were instances where some Local Authorities could not meet the turnaround times due to the unavailability of signing officers.ENDS