09 Jul 2026

A combination of booming tourism revenue and a P14 million import-substitution drive by local Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) has positioned the North West District as a key player in the county’s economic diversification strategy.

The surge comes at a critical time as government is currently implementing interventions to slash the high import bill and drop food imports from 21.7 per cent to 13.7 per cent of total imports by the 2029/2030 fiscal year. 

The North West District is already proving that this goal is well within reach.

According to a recent District Development Committee (DDC) report, 27 agricultural and manufacturing SMMEs in the region have directly driven such reduction and the value of their import substitution efforts skyrocketed to over P14 million this quarter, a massive leap from the P8 855, 786.33 recorded in the previous quarter. 

Such high-performing businesses span a diverse range of local industries, including horticulture, cleaning detergents, fibre products, aluminium and concrete manufacturing, embroidery, bottle production as well as paint processing.

While manufacturing and farming secure the district’s supply chains, its traditional economic engine is also firing on all cylinders. 

Updating stakeholders on local economic empowerment programmes, monitoring and evaluation officer at the office of the district commissioner, Mr Pelotshweu Ntesang, highlighted that tourism continued to act as a big catalyst for regional growth.

“The tourism sector in the district continues to contribute significantly to local economic development through business growth, employment creation and revenue generation, particularly within accommodation establishments and mobile safari operations,” Mr Ntesang noted.

He added that to sustain such momentum, the Department of Tourism’s Maun office had ramped up its regulatory oversight, focusing heavily on inspections, licensing and compliance. He said a major driver of the sector’s recent success was the upgraded registration of the Tourism Statistics Tool (T-Stats) system. 

Designed to provide actionable and evidence-based insights for both local and national boards, he said the digital platform tracked critical employment, room occupancy and visitor data.

He further said the system’s financial data reflected a rapidly growing industry with revenue collection having climbed steadily throughout the fourth quarter, bringing in P174, 410.00 in January and P177, 350.00 in February, before surging to P259, 240.00 in March. 

Mr Ntesang attributed the sharp March spike to a higher volume of operators successfully adopting and updating their information on the digital platform.

He indicated that the digital transition had coincided with an influx of new market entrants. Also, he said the department recently inspected 34 tourism enterprises, approving 11 new licenses, while deferring eight applications due to regulatory non-compliance. 

Despite the defers, Mr Ntesang however emphasised that the steady rise in active licenses reflected robust investor confidence, particularly among locals.

“As a district, we have noted an increasing number of booked inspections from citizen-owned companies eager to venture into the tourism sector,” he said.

However, he indicated that safeguarding such economic progress required confronting several ongoing operational challenges. 

He said the challenges included illegal operations, licensing documentation delays, technical system limitations and incomplete statistical reporting. 

He however assured stakeholders that such issues were being countered through joint inspections and targeted stakeholder engagements.

Mr Ntesang also underscored the need to address the district’s low average length of visitor stays, warning that short trips limited total revenue and stifled broader job creation. 

To ensure the North West District remained an economic powerhouse, he called for a unified push to aggressively strengthen destination marketing, diversify local tourism products and encourage longer and more immersive visitor itineraries across the region. ENDS