18 Feb 2024

Access to international markets remains a challenge for both the private and public sectors.

Therefore, there is a need to build the capacity of local companies in navigating market entry, positioning, proper pricing, and branding.

These sentiments were shared by Ms  Christinah Leshego, the North West regional chairperson of the Women in Business Association (WIBA), in an interview recently.

She highlighted these points following her return from the recently concluded Magic Show in Las Vegas, United States of America.

The expo is the leading fashion marketplace in the US that attracts all the brands and retailers of the world and locally WIBA and Premier Clothing Company had the opportunity to participate under AGOA strategy.

WIBA managed to send a few of its members under the textile and manufacturing industry as well as home decoration.

Reflecting on the lessons learnt, Ms Leshego said compared to their counterpart in other countries such as Lesotho and Madagascar, local companies lacked market information and buyer expectations.

As such, she challenged them to up their game and among others consider forming clusters to be able to exploit opportunities as a team.

“Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represented the bulk of production but the share of SMEs exports remains marginal despite efforts by the government to facilitate a conducive environment of doing business,” she said.

She said companies in Lesotho, India and Madagascar were enjoying the export market as they worked as a unit and had a great brand presence in their home markets.

She also noted that the Lesotho government had made efforts towards improving and up-scaling the implementation of AGOA and establishing a diversified manufacturing sector in response to the anticipated extension of the existing AGOA agreement.

“They own big manufacturing warehouses of textiles and garments because companies have grouped themselves to meet the export market. As such, the industry has turned out to be the biggest employer in the country,” she said.

Furthermore, Ms Leshego said the industry in Lesotho had consistently been the number one exporter of apparel to the US under AGOA among the African countries.

She was of the view that Batswana could also make it in the global market if they could stop working in silos and understand the export market requirements and standards.

“The goal of every exporter, she said should be to move from demand and supply exporting to market-driven, long-term, and sustainable business success,” she said.

Ms Leshego revealed that branding of products was also key noting that it was important for local companies to work on boosting the visibility and making their brand name familiar in the new market amongst the target customers.

“Our entrepreneurs should understand that branding plays a big role in the export market. To be at the top of the choice list of the customer, branding is the fundamental element of adding value to an ordinary product.

It is more than just visual characteristics of a product but a holistic approach of all functional promises made by a manufacturer to the customer,” she added.

She also called on local companies to consider benchmarking missions in advanced countries such as Lesotho, India and China. ENDS