30 Oct 2022

Kgosi Eric Moipolai of Matsiloje says events that promote  entrepreneurship can help improve the lives of Batswana.

Speaking during a market day in Matsiloje on Thursday, Kgosi Moipolai said such events enabled entrepreneurs, more especially farmers, to share ideas on challenges and solutions in their journeys.

He urged participants from Matsiloje, Matshelagabedi, Matopi and surrounding areas to take advantage of every initiative availed by the government.

The event was held under the theme: Promoting Empowerment of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME’s) in Digital Market.

Principal District Officer Development, Ms Omphile Mogorosi said the theme was aimed at encouraging  entrepreneurs to use the internet to grow their businesses.

She said businesses struggled to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic, which however elevated the use of digital marketing.

She said different departments and organisations that could assist entrepreneurs also used internet platforms to make their services known, hence the need for business owners to make internet use part of their lives.

Ms Mogorosi emphasised the need to keep up with the times and how to get the maximum from the market by using new tactics and technologies.

She urged the participants to adapt to the new way of doing things, to lead the growth of local entrepreneurs and the economy as a whole.

Ms Mogorosi said the event was broadcast live on Facebook to not only enable those who could not attend to get the information, but to show the goods on display as well as to prove that the digital technology was real.

One of the Poverty Eradication Programme beneficiaries, Mr Matshidiso Maphosho, who is a fisherman, encouraged other residents to join the initiative, saying it had changed his life.

He said all he did was submit his national identity card to the social worker’s office for registration and was later called in for training at Tshesebe.

“Upon completion of training I was given equipment such as knives, coolers boxes and a boat to start harvesting fish,” he added.

From this business, he said, he was able to venture further into other businesses such as poultry and a mobile kitchen, where he sells fish burgers.

Mr Maphosho also encouraged others to never undermine or underestimate the fish business as it was able to change his life.

In her closing remarks, Councillor Flora Mpetsane said the President’s Reset Agenda should be promoted and adopted in order to better people’s standard of living.

She congratulated Mr Maphosho for harnessing the fish value chain, saying this opened opportunities for other people as they incorporated their own skills into his business, to better their own lives.

She encouraged residents to participate in entrepreneurship by having the right mindset for maximum returns. Participants displayed and sold their wares which included farm produce, baskets, metal works, weaving and others, while organisations that participated included Local Enterprise Authority and Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board. ENDS