Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana Defence Force (BDF) will take part in the 16th edition of the Botswana Consumer Fair billed to start next week following years of absence.
Briefing the media in Gaborone on Monday, Fairground Holdings CEO, Ms Gorata Gabaraane said the Botswana Prisons Service and Botswana Police Service were also scheduled to be part of the consumer fair, which open doors to the public from August 28 to September 3.
She said they were responding to public requests following the absence of BDF, which left a gap in the entertainment stage.
“They are a crowd puller,” she said. The consumer fair will be delivered under the theme: Fostering Consumer Confidence Through Business Resilience Post-COVID-19.
Ms Gabaraane said the journey embarked upon had been nothing short of remarkable and a testament to the indomitable spirit of the people of Botswana.
In addition, Ms Gabaraane said the show would be an all-inclusive event that facilitates interaction between exhibitors, manufacturers, traders and visitors to provide opportunities to diversify the economy. The tagline, Engage, Shop, and Showcase, encapsulates all activities to look forward to so far as engaging with stakeholders, as well as selling and promoting SME products and services, she said.
She said the fair would also promote trade between local and foreign exhibitors, citing their pursuit to tap into the value chain emanating from the traders’ hub.
Ms Gabaraane said they were expecting about 60 traders to participate under the traders’ hub in comparison to 50 in 2022.
She said this year they had managed to attract over 570 exhibition stalls compared to 550 in 2022 and 30 different sector categories of the economy with exhibitors from among others, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya.
In 2022 the foot traffic was recorded at 35 000 visitors, as such ‘our target in 2023 was to exceed the 2022 mark.’
She said the Botswana Consumer Fair continued to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country by supporting significant sectors of SMMEs and directly creating employment by engaging over 400 temporary employees.
Ms Gabaraane reiterated that they had offered an opportunity to four non-governmental organisations to raise funds by providing them with catering stalls through their Community Social Responsibility initiatives.
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