Africa-Press – Botswana. Jwaneng mayor, Ms Olga Ditsie, has called on Batswana to utilise available programmes to uplift their lives and contribute to economic growth.
Speaking at Mmamatlotlo Business and Financial seminar in Jwaneng on Saturday, Ms Ditsie implored small business owners to take advantage of government programmes to grow their businesses.
“These programmes are not for certain individuals. Let us tap into them to grow our businesses and ultimately the economy of the country,” she said.
She further underscored the need to diversify businesses to align them with emerging market challenges.
“Diversification is a very important factor in business, so we should diversify our businesses so that they are sustainable despite the challenges,” she noted.
Ms Ditsie regretted that government empowerment programmes such as Youth Development Fund (YDF) and poverty eradication were struggling to reach their quota in Jwaneng, despite available business opportunities in the market.
Additionally, Ms Ditsie encouraged Jwaneng residents to take advantage of Debswana’s Citizen Economic Empowerment Programme (CEEP), which aimed at promoting citizen participation in mining activities by exploiting supply value chain opportunities.
She noted that through the programme, whose target was to create 20 000 jobs by 2024, Jwaneng mine spent P2.5 billion in 2022 towards its supply value chain operations.
One panellist, Mr Tshepang Mabaila of Mabaila Foundation said a key ingredient to robust and sustainable businesses was network. He noted that having the right networks had a positive impact on the growth of the business.
“Networking is one of the powerful tools of business because it promotes growth. If you want to do best in business, then you should have networks,” he said.
He noted that additionally, networks were instrumental in finding a role model for the business, and that these should be people who were reachable.
Another panellist, founder of Xandye Boutique, Ms Tebogo Kenanao, said resilient businesses, which were built on passion were more likely to stand amidst challenges.
She noted that even though her self-funded designing business was established during the COVID-19 pandemic, it had managed to stay afloat to date.
“Resilience is very important for businesses because you are bound to encounter some hurdles along the way. COVID-19 hit when I was still waiting for my first product whose design I had sent overseas, but because of passion and resilience I navigated my way through the pandemic,” she said.
Mmamatlotlo concept founder Ms Lenah Mahalelo said the seminar was intended to give aspiring and small businesses an opportunity to interact with various stakeholders to share ideas on resuscitating businesses post COVID-19.
She acknowledged that the pandemic had adverse effect on many businesses, resulting in restructuring and retrenchments across various sectors.
She said even though initially Mmamatlotlo initiative was aimed at women empowerment, the last two sessions were broadened to accommodate other factors.
She noted that business collaborations were important in reviving and growing businesses beyond the pandemic.
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