25 Oct 2023

After working for an entity for more than 23 years the prospect of being at the helm becomes more likely, a reason to make one stay.

But for some, it is a time to bid the entity goodbye to launch something to their name. Eunice Mpoloka did just that.

Early this year in January, the mining engineer called it quits to her well-paying job with the mining giant, Debswana.

Eunice took that decision to embark on entrepreneurial journey path at Hoisting Solutions as the main shareholder.

While the journey can be nerve wrecking as to what lies ahead, for the Francistown born and raised mother of three, this new leaf was another chapter of a successful story of women making it in the male dominated industry.  

Hoisting Solutions originates from South Africa and prides itself with a number of branches in Botswana.

It specialises with crane hire, rigging, jacking and engineering services, something not far from her previous employer.

She met Hoisting solutions through its director, Mr Ian Nuttall-Smith, and she knew the company to a certain extent because they had been engaged by Debswana.

Her journey with her previous employer dates back to 1999 when she was sponsored to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town, South Africa as one of the first female Engineers to be trained by Debswana.

She then later went for further studies to do her masters in Mining Engineering at Witwatersrand University in 2006.

Eunice was unfazed by stereotypes that mining should be steered by men, but thrived with confidence and bravery, which saw her assuming a top seat in a company owned by men.

She just felt she had done her job in the mining industry, contributed massively to Debswana by training other women and it was time to hand over the baton to other women.

It was a very easy decision for her to make because she understood Hoisting Solutions’s vision and what they were doing, more so that they wanted a female citizen on board as a move to support government’s objective aimed at promoting citizen economic empowerment.

When she was called in by Competition Authority to establish if she was not fronting, for a technical person she is, who lived her life in the mining industry, she was upbeat in sharing her position.

 “I had a senior position at Debswana and there is no way that I can leave that job for fronting,” she said.

She owns 51 percent of the company, whilst her two male foreign partners own  the remaining 49 percent.

Eunice invested part of her package from Debswana to buy shares in the company and got a loan from other company shareholders to augment.

Her company Managing Director, Nuttall-Smith indicated that bringing Eunice on board was a deliberate decision aimed at fullfilling the country’s citizen economic empowerment initiative.

He said they brought in a knowledgeable female who has a wealth of experience and were also impressed by her confidence.

The company boasts of 33 members of staff, 31 being citizens and two foreigners. ENDS