01 Aug 2023

The Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan identifies manufacturing as one sector that government has to develop to achieve employment creation and economic diversification.

Officiating at the maiden Botswana Chamber of Mines Local Manufacturers Summit, the President, Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, said the government had adopted a number of initiatives, both at the national and international levels aimed at developing the sector.

President Masisi said the Selebi Phikwe Economic Diversification Unit (SPEDU) incentives mandated government’s procuring processes to reserve a minimum of 30 per cent of their procurement for manufacturing enterprises located in the SPEDU region.

He said the revised Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) guidelines launched in 2021 prioritised and offered greater opportunities to the manufacturing sector with specific incentives.

Dr Masisi said the #PUSHABW campaign that was catapulted by the COVID-19 pandemic had re-energised a stronger belief in locally manufactured products and created a community of local investors who were willing and equally able to venture into manufacturing businesses.

President Masisi said the efforts were a demonstration of government’s unwavering commitment to supporting and growing not only the manufacturing sector but also other economic drivers towards a high-income economy.

Through strategic investment, President Masisi said private entities in different sectors of the economy with particular emphasis on manufacturing, must play a great potential in stimulating economic growth.

Dr Masisi said the Summit was one of the several activities implemented by the Chamber of Mines through its Chamber of Mines Business Development Forum (COMBDF).

He said the principal objective of COMBDF was to use the combined mining sector purchasing power to attract investment, both foreign and domestic, and to facilitate the development of capable and competitive local enterprises to create jobs as well as diversify the economy.

The President said the Botswana Chamber of Mines subscribes to the philosophy that the entrepreneurial success of its member mining companies should be underpinned by social and economic responsibility.

“The mining industry, particularly the diamond mines have for a long period of time been the backbone of the country’s economic development, driving most of government’s revenue,” said President Masisi.

He also said the mining sector had long realised the need to push the agenda for import substitution driven by local manufacturing.

“It was against this background that as early as 2014, the mining industry reviewed its position and decided to focus its procurement internally to assist in the development of the economy,” he said.

President Masisi said a formalised Agreement Charter was signed by all the operating mines in Botswana in 2014 to ensure that mining companies used their purchasing power and influence to promote and facilitate the development of commercially viable local and citizen-owned companies or joint venture businesses in Botswana.

As a result, President Masisi said, several citizen-owned companies had been established in the country supported by individual members of the Botswana Chamber of Mines.

To show their commitment to the cause, Dr Masisi explained that Debswana Diamond Company and Morupule Coal Mine recently embarked on an inclusive Citizen Economic Empowerment Policy (CEEP) with an import substitution driven by a local manufacturing stream.

He said the policy aimed at increasing local procurement and facilitating the Citizen Economic Empowerment drive.

President Masisi said the summit was expected to generate progressive actions to address issues such as access to funding, access to markets, quality of locally manufactured goods, as well as access to information. Ends