26 May 2026

First National Bank Botswana  (FNBB)Chief Executive Officer, Mr Steven Bogatsu says Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the true backbone of thriving economies and central to Botswana’s diversification push under the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme (BETP). 

Speaking during the FirstPreneur Value Chain Roundtable held in Francistown on Thursday, Mr Bogatsu said SMEs’s capacity to innovate, generate employment and drive inclusive growth made them indispensable to the national development agenda.

He said across the world, SMEs had proven their transformative power, pointing out to the likes of Kenya where SMEs fuel GDP growth, and employment while pioneering agriculture and ICT, South Korea’s globally competitive industries as well as Rwanda’s community-driven growth through SME reform as well.

These examples, he said served as a reminder that, when SMEs  were given the right structures and support, they did more than survive, they thrived and reshaped nations.

“In Botswana, SMEs already provide the majority of private sector jobs and are central to our diversification” Mr Bogatsu noted.

Additionally, he mentioned that Francistown played a vital role as a key economic centre with strong entrepreneurial spirit in the country.

“The entrepreneurial spirit here is strong, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that local businesses are not only supported but positioned to scale and succeed.” 

He highlighted that FNBB in partnership with Project124 Africa had launched the FirstPreneurs Programme which was a commitment to advance SME development.

The initiative, he said, was designed to accelerate entrepreneurs in building sustainable businesses, focusing 100 per cent exclusively on citizen owned enterprises that have been operating for two years “ensuring that resilient entrepreneurs receive the extra push needed to elevate their growth journey”. 

Botswana, he stated, did not lack enterprise or ambition but what must be done was to strengthen the alignment between entrepreneurs, markets and finance.

He highlighted that through the philosophy, FNBB had projects such as the Mmadinare Solar Complex Project and Pandamatenga where the bank had partnered with developers, government, farming groups and communities to share risk and align delivery.

“Finance responds to structure, predictability and delivery. When businesses are coordinated within clusters, risk is reduced, and when risk reduces, capital follows.”  Said Mr Bogatsu.

For his part, Francistown City Mayor, Mr Gaone Majere, commended FNBB and Project 124 Africa for bringing important engagements to the city and the duo’s continued commitment to support Botswana enterprise development and bolster economic participation.

Mr Majere said since the closure of mines, the city of Francistown had relied heavily on SMEs and initiatives by FNBB and partners served as motivation and encouragement to scale small businesses.

He said SMEs remained hope for community development as they created jobs, provide pathways for innovation and self-sufficiency and had the potential to drive inclusive growth by ensuring that economic opportunities reached all people and communities.

However, the City Mayor pointed out some challenges that many SMEs continued to face, including restricted access to financial resources, limited market reach, complex procurement frameworks and lack of high-level professional networks. 

He emphasised that SMEs could not grow in isolation and must be connected to functioning economic systems, to markets, buyers, financiers and opportunities that allowed them to scale and participate meaningfully in the economy.

The Francistown Entrepreneur Value Chain Roundtable follows a successful Gaborone edition and it brings together entrepreneurs from 18 sectors alongside investors, corporate buyers, sector experts, and institutional partners and was held under the theme: Unlocking SME potential through stronger value chain linkages. ENDS