13 Nov 2022

 Government is keen on fostering an export-led economy through various vigorous value chain development programmes to create sustainable and competitive Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Minister of Entrepreneurship, Mr Karabo Gare said thus at the launch of the ministry’s blueprint and strategic direction recently.

Minister Gare said government had prioritised the development and support of entrepreneurs for sustainable development as outlined in the National Vision 2036 document, through different initiatives.

“SMEs are a key driver of economic growth and social inclusion of their role has become more critical than ever. 

They are among the priority policy measures during this COVID-19 recovery season and beyond,” he said.

SMEs, he said, had suffered from severe loss of revenue due to COVID-19, hence government, in response, took the decision to establish the Ministry of Entrepreneurship as part of the Reset Agenda to support SMEs.

“The Ministry of Entrepreneurship was established following the rationalisation of ministries, parastatals and public entities to provide leadership and overall policy direction, strategy and standards on business development,” he said.

He added that the ministry’s portfolio responsibilities encompass, among others, a number of areas, including enterprise development and coordination, small business development policy, wealth creation, citizen economic empowerment, coordination of value chains and women economic empowerment.

That, he said was done through focusing on three key priority areas; mindset change and culture, value chains development and economic inclusion.

He said the aim was to unlock opportunities for high growth companies, identify new sectors, job creation and an operational exercise of merging of CEDA and LEA.

“The rationalisation of the parastatals was to optimise public sector service delivery and ensure effectiveness and efficiency. 

Rationalising parastatals and public entities is in line with existing synergies to improve service delivery by creating one-stop service centers where the public can get services,” he said.

He added that another key goal of rationalisation was to promote efficient use of economic resources by eliminating duplication and redundancies.

“The initiative to merge or reorganise the parastatals and public entities was one of public sector reform initiatives aimed at contributing to the policy thrust of government to achieve greater economic diversification,” he said.

Some departments and units, which included Poverty Eradication, Cooperatives Development and Agribusiness were transferred to the entrepreneurship ministry for better alignment or positioning.  ENDS