02 Nov 2022

 #PushaBW has been hailed as a catalyst that mobilises all key players within the entrepreneurship eco-system.

Speaking at opening of the Global Expo Botswana 2022 (#PushaBW Forum) in Gaborone on Tuesday, the acting minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Beauty Manake said the #PushaBW campaign had managed to engage the consumer, producer, retailer, corporate and government to actively and deliberately prioritise local.

Ms Manake said #PushaBW had managed to re-build the Botswana that was self-sufficient and self-reliant, including building the capacity for local entrepreneurship and market access.

She said the #PushaBW journey started as a marketing campaign aimed at encouraging Batswana to actively participate in growing the local economy through  procurement of local products and services and supporting local initiatives.

“I am proud to say that not only has the campaign been received positively, but we have also seen great and significant developments across the market, because of #PushaBW,” she said.

Ms Manake said the campaign had been a transformational process where the seed that was planted was seen, yielding many fruits that all saw, and bringing hope to Batswana that the moment had indeed come, “to believe in ourselves and what we can do for ourselves.”

She highlighted that one of the key priorities for her ministry was the reduction of the national import bill through boosting domestic production and facilitating local market access for products, adding that #PushaBW was accomplishing a vision long forecasted and engraved as one of the national principles, self-reliance.

“I am confident in the foundation that has been laid which will commit everyone through their areas of influence and interest, to independently and jointly explore opportunities to impact the economy through this initiative,” she said.

Ms Manake therefore stressed that collaboration was an essential ingredient to impactful results, noting that the long-standing collaborative efforts between the state-owned enterprises, CEDA, LEA and BITC that had borne fruit in the SMME sector.

She pointed out that the success of the #PushaBW campaign was seen through the vastness of the stakeholders who had come on board over the years to expand the scope and vision of the campaign, to steer citizen empowerment, economic growth and diversification, employment creation and export-led growth.

She said for that reason, local retailers had not only taken up the mantle to increase the number of local products on their shelves, but to also open themselves up to engage with local producers to ensure that there was understanding of listing requirements.

“We now see store shelves of retailers here present, proudly highlighting the local products that they have on their shelves ensuring that their customers do not miss them while shopping,” she said.

She said the #PushaBW campaign was the key meeting point of the mandates of the entities, adding that together with other stakeholders such as Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) and Women in Business Association (WIBA) had recently partnered to deliver the National SMME Roadshow, which reached over 400 SMMEs across various sectors.

Ms Manake therefore challenged all the corporates to take the lead as in larger economies, where the private sector lead in driving economic growth and created the most employment.

She further assured #PushaBW initiative of government support, saying government would continue through the development, refining and implementation of initiatives such as Botswana Exporter Development Programme (BEDP), the Supplier Development Programme (SDP), and the SME Incubation Programme by the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), to capacitating companies to produce competitive, quality products to penetrate both the local and international markets.

Ms Manake encouraged local producers to continuously seek opportunities to improve the quality of their products to meet local and international standards.

She said that would ensure that their products, not only served the local market, but was also able to join the pool of local products being exported to international markets as Botswana worked towards an export-led economy.

She also urged them to strive to meet demand as more and more Batswana acceded to the call to embrace their products.

She nevertheless said the competitiveness of local products and services was greatly affected by quality, consistency of supply and pricing amongst others, adding that local producers had to be committed to consider and prioritise local products and move to develop capacity to meet the needs and demands of the local market.  ENDS