Tokafala business advisory workshop to boost SMMEs

A business advisory workshop dubbed ‘Tokafala Programme’ returns again next month to impart small businesses with training and mentorship on business management.

Programme Director Ineke Van Der Weijden promised that participants will benefit a lot from topics that include financial record keeping; financial management; evaluation of investment decision; basic operation concept and marketing & sales.

“Successfully applying these principles will typically lead to improved performance of the business,” she said. As if to prove this, she revealed that graduate from the Tokafala programme class of 2014, managed to record overall revenue of 60 percent after one year. The workshops are free for all businesses and participants are expected to work hard. The advisory workshop cycles will last for four months and consist of a combination of group based workshops and tailored one-on-one sessions.

Tokafala programme is a joint partnership between Botswana Government, Anglo American, De Beers and Debswana that aims to promote economic development by bolstering the growth of micro small and medium sized companies in Botswana.

The programme was launched in January 2014 and is expected to run for at least three years with a second phase planned to run until 2018. The ultimate goal of the programme is to diversify the economy away from mining by developing a strong middle class of entrepreneurs who will finally become employers.

The programme exists in Francistown and Gaborone and that is where the business workshops will take place.