Africa-Press – Botswana. Small-scale entrepreneurs in the informal sector have been urged to explore economic opportunities in the district to enable them to create their own employment.
Officially opening a two-day informal sector capacity-building workshop in Ramotswa on Wednesday, Ramotswa District Council Chairperson, Mr Zaahid Jalal, told delegates that the collaborative stakeholder engagement afforded those in the informal sector an opportunity to join hands and realise their dreams.
“Let us join hands and look at available potential opportunities. Hospitality and conferencing are an opportunity we can look to explore. They have other value chain additions that are equally profitable. An opportunity to discuss all these things must give you hope and inspiration,” he said.
He said the district authority had invited financiers among other partners to explain further about funding opportunities.
Explaining objectives of the workshop Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) executive secretary Mr Steve Pheko urged small scale businesses to abide by the mindset concept to turn their fortunes.
He said achieving prosperity for all Batswana just like the UN’s global agenda which talks about leaving no one behind, was the priority for government.
“As individuals, we have the responsibility to contribute to individual, national and global wellbeing. As BALA, we disseminate the mind-set change principle and embrace that you can bring change,” he said.
He told the informal sector businesses that they were an important stakeholder in government’s effort to diversify the economy.
Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) representative, Ms Nomsa Majama, said her institution stepped in to assist and provide solutions to challenges that small-scale business owners faced on their entrepreneurial journey.
She said entrepreneurs were catalysts for economic growth in the district and contributed to national competitiveness.
She urged them to familiarize themselves with new trade policies and new government programmes so that they were aware of what could affect their businesses.
She said LEA provided entrepreneurial development training for the provision of access to start-up funding.
ABSA Bank business development manager, Ms Bakang Tshwene, asked business owners to up their marketing strategy.
Ms Tshwene said her bank established the enterprise and supply chain development to assist small and medium enterprises.
She said they had identified gaps in access to funding for small businesses which was caused by a number of factors including lack of record keeping.
Other challenges include access to markets and capacity building.
Ramotswa District Council and ABSA conducted the capacity building workshop to connect the informal sector to economic opportunities available in the district.
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