05 Mar 2023

In an effort to resuscitate the economy of Selebi Phikwe, government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry brought Metlhala ya Khumo outreach programme to the town, to encourage the people of Selebi Phikwe to venture into different businesses.

As part of the ministry’s communication strategy aimed at raising awareness on services, policies and programmes offered by the ministry, the ministry also invited implementing agencies to come and interact with the Selebi Phikwe community and get direct feedback as service providers and policy makers.

Acting Minister of Trade and Industry (MTI), Ms Beauty Manake said during the official opening of Metlhala ya Khumo outreach programme in Selebi Phikwe on Thursday that the world was changing rapidly together with industries that drove global economies, adding that in recent years some industries had seen explosive growth while others had slowed or disappeared entirely, especially after the debilitating effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

This economic situation, she said then forced everybody to go back to the drawing board and reset priorities in order for them to nurture and grow local industries, but equally as well adopting new ways of doing things, thus an unprecedented growth in e-commerce and the use of the internet was observed.

“I urged Selebi Phikwe not to be left behind this fourth Industrial Revolution,” she said.

While her ministry was working round the clock drawing up and reviewing policies that would help grow local industries, she said businesses should reset and those wanting to expand and venture into export markets should look at how the world was growing and find out what the fastest growing industries were and what made them successful.

Ms Manake explained that the country was signatory to a number of trade Agreements and just recently ratified the African Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) which gave Batswana an opportunity to trade with over one billion people across the African continent.

The Acting minister added that government had worked tirelessly in trying to diversify the economy and reduce the import bill.

Some of her ministry’s initiatives that wete geared towards achieving the diversification of the economy, she said were government procurement of locally produced goods and services as well as introduction of statutory instruments to help industries grow.

In addition she said the year 2023 was the year for Botswana businesses to thrive.

Giving an overview of Metlhala ya Khumo outreach programme on behalf of the Permanent secretary, agt chief executive officer for Gambling Authority, Mr Peter Kesitilwe said since the last Motlhala wa Khumo campaign in 2020, the ministry had initiated some policies and strategies aimed at further improving the ease of doing business and facilitating trade.

These he said included the National Quality Policy and the National Intellectual Property Policy geared at making local goods and services globally competitive as well as protecting creations and innovations by businesses.

“As a ministry we believe strongly in stakeholder engagement and consultation and giving priority to events such as this one will ensure that small businesses and communities in every region of the country have the tools and support they need to innovate and grow as well as create new jobs and to seize the opportunities afforded by such strategies,” he said.

He further implored the people of Selebi Phikwe to use forums such as this one to delve deeper into innovation policies, investment and industrialisation because doing that would give policy makers feedback.

For his part, Selebi Phikwe Town Council deputy mayor, Mr Molefhe Molatlhegi applauded the Ministry of Trade and Industry together with its parastatals and other stakeholders for their efforts to resuscitate the economy of Selebi Phikwe since the closure of the BCL mine, which was the economic backbone of this copper mining town. Ends