18 Jul 2023

Business leaders who attended the US-Africa Business Summit in Tlokweng have pleaded with African governments to come up with a strategic plan towards building resilient entrepreneurs.

During a dialogue on building resilient entrepreneurs, panelists noted that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) constituted about 80 per cent of employment across Africa.

The Minister of Entrepreneurship, Mr Karabo Gare said government remained committed to building resilient entrepreneurs who could compete across international space. Mr Gare said the business climate in Botswana presented low-hanging fruits that entrepreneurs could harness to build substantial businesses.

Part of these fruits included the abundant raw materials that were often exported unprocessed, thereby giving less profits to local businesses.

He said entrepreneurs should endeavor to tap into the opportunity presented by exporting processed and value  added raw materials for better  gains. This, he said, would ultimately build a strong balanced sheet for local businesses and help companies towards having sufficient funds to scale up.

In addition, Mr Gare said government had a deliberate intent to strengthen SMEs to compete in the global market, citing Botswana Exporters Development Programme (BEDP) that had been established to assist businesses to access international markets.

He said the programme assisted with capacity development for exporters as well as availing development funds through CEDA.

Moreover, Mr Gare said the BEDP further supported businesses to uptake and use available trade instruments to their advantage, adding that Botswana Exporters Manufactures Association (BEMA) also assisted with awareness, advocacy, and joint venture development for entrepreneurs looking to export their produce.

For her part, Co-leads Cross Boundary’s West Africa Investment Advisory, Mr Fanta Conde said her organisation supported companies and investors across the region, in sectors including agriculture, waste management, water, and energy.

Ms Conde said there was a need to call for action among the different donors, heads of state and industry leaders to put funding behind platforms with experience and expertise to assist companies in helping themselves to develop sustainably.

She said grants in nature were not sustainable, and their impact was not much because often they were given to businesses with less expertise to maximise the output.

A clear and sound strategy would be to assist entrepreneurs in building their entities through fundraising activities which ultimately set a track record and history that would help business thrive down the line, she said.

For his part, president and CEO of the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), Mr Travis Adkins said his organisation was an independent government agency that invested in African small- and medium-size enterprises, entrepreneurs, and grassroots organisations.

Mr Adkins said building resilient entrepreneurs began with prioritising a top health status and self-care amongst SMEs.

He said given the wake of COVID-19 which had brought many challenges to small and medium businesses, it was important for business owners to delegate and outsource some business processes.

Mr Adkins advised businesses to adopt working on the business not in the business, citing that owners should practice effective time management, and seek support and accountability.

In addition, he said, the work-life balance was critical to building resilient businesses as well as fostering a positive company culture.

Mr Adkins further said it was vital for owners of companies to re-assess and reflect on their processes by engaging other business owners who were thriving positively for expert advice.

Meanwhile, Senior Director for Government Engagement (Sub-Saharan Africa) at VISA, Ms Nonofo Malefane said investors and donors should prioritize capacity-building programmes for building resilient entrepreneurs out of their beneficiaries.

She said skills enhancement including soft skills acquisition and conducting diagnostic reviews among businesses dealt with would create a win-win situation between funders and business owners.

Mentoring and access to training, especially within digital financial literacy remained pivotal to the success of any business out there, she said adding that Africa was characterized by women businesses that were operating outside technological advancement, either for processing payments or record keeping. Ends