Africa-Press – Botswana. Government stands ready to facilitate Batswana to venture into upstream and downstream activities of the value chain, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has said.
Speaking at the #PUSHABW Selebi Phikwe held at the Sam Sono Stadium yesterday, President Masisi said government desired to see a lot of value-added products exported from the citrus value chain, which was expected to unlock a significant number of industries such as food and beverages, cosmetic products, cleaning detergents and animal feed.
President Masisi said government’s facilitation of Batswana to venture into upstream and downstream activities of the value chain, entailed provision of public financing opportunities or avenues to augment the stable of commercial loans in the banking sector.
“Financing should not be a challenge. The call is being made to you to rise up and conceptualise viable and bankable investment projects, with the assistance that you can get from entrepreneurial training offered by LEA, as you start small,” the President said.
He added that the Youth Development Fund (YDF) continued to be utilised to fund youth start-ups across multiple sectors.
He indicated that since its inception, YDF had disbursed P1.1 billion and in the process created about 22 820 jobs.
“In fulfilling our commitment to promoting equality for all and granting equal opportunities for youth, the YDF budget for 2024/25 has been raised from P104m to P200m, representing a 92.3 per cent increase,” he said.
The President said government also recognised the informal sector as a significant segment with great potential to play a more meaningful role in the overall economic development and job creation, hence a deliberate move to create a revolving fund dubbed Chema Chema, to support the informal sector with P500m capital injection.
He added that to further propel the sustainable growth of the informal sector, the 2019 Informal Sector Strategy would be reviewed and implemented during the next financial year to facilitate provision of decent places of operation for informal businesses, provide capacity building essential for skills enhancement, improve market access, promote financial inclusion and mainly find ways to incorporate the sector into the mainstream economy.
The President commended LEA for commissioning works to construct 44 market stalls, ablutions, a public events area and an eatery for the informal sector businesses in Selebi Phikwe in January.
With regard to promotion and support the country’s food security and agricultural export efforts, President Masisi said government had introduced Temo Letlotlo, which effected during the 2023/2024 ploughing season with P142m disbursed to farmers through NDB. He added that government was finalising Thuo Letlotlo, which would be launched during the 2024/25 financial year, an initiative that would serve as a catalyst to animal production by increasing the national herd and enhancing the quality of livestock.
“Some of the products being showcased here today are ready for the export markets, while some enterprises are already exporting. We ratified the African Continental Free Trade Agreement on February 19 last year, and we are full members of this huge common market comprising 1.3 billion people,” he added.
The agreement, he said, would enable the free flow of goods and services across the continent and boost the trading position of Africa in the global market.
“This means we have to upscale production in the targeted sectors over which the impediments of trade tariffs have been removed. My intentions to drive Batswana to attain Prosperity for All are clear as illustrated by the recent joint engagement that I had with accounting officers and State-Owned Enterprises CEOs, where I emphasised the need to promote local procurement,” he said.
DAILYNEWS
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