14 Apr 2024

Women and youth have been advised to utilise the newly established Chema Chema Fund to uplift their lives since they have been left behind.

The fund is aimed at transforming the informal sector and providing financial support to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

This was said by Minister of Finance, Ms Peggy Serame at a kgotla meeting she addressed in Mahalapye recently. The fund, she said, was aimed at changing the informal sector and creating more employment opportunities.

Minister Serame also said government had increased the fund from the initial P200 million to P500 million. She said government increased the fund to cushion Batswana against unfavourable economic conditions and other hardships arising from unemployment.

“Through the fund, new and existing informal businesses will be provided with affordable short-term loans at 2.4 per cent interest, procurement of infrastructure, expansion of businesses, capacity building and administrative costs, adding that the loan would be topped at P50 000.

Ms Serame said there was a lack of capital options for enterprises operating in the informal sector despite its weighty addition to employment creation in the country.

The minister advised beneficiaries to invest the money wisely to ensure it benefited the country and improved lives of Batswana. She said by empowering the informal sector, they paved the way for increased job opportunities and bolstering the economic landscape.

She appealed to dikgosi and district councils to assist informal traders with spaces where they could operate their businesses. She also appealed to government institutions to buy from small businesses in order to uplift them.

She said public servants preferred to buy from established markets. On a related issue, Ms Serame warned potential beneficiaries to be aware of false and fake messaging as well as service offerings in relation to the fund. This was after some residents complained that some people were selling them Chema Chema forms.

They said the forms were also sold in some Internet cafés. However, a press release from the Ministry of Entrepreneurship has advised the public to deal with appropriate authorities.

Minister Serame noted that the fund appointed the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) to deal with registering and training all qualifying citizens, while Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) would deal with the disbursement of funds after assessing applications of qualifying applicants.

“No other person, company or entity has the authority or a legitimate basis for claiming to offer administrative or other such training services, including consultancies to deal with the guidelines or disbursement process.”

Earlier Kgosi Tshipe Tshipe appealed to the ministry to request the offices of LEA and CEDA to be established in Mahalapye. Residents told the minister that the programme was good and would uplift the businesses of the informal sector.ENDS