Ministry of Entrepreneurship is delivering on its mandate successfully- Minister Gare
Minister of Entrepreneurship KARABO GARE says his ministry, which was established only two years ago, has done well to drive the country economic advancement. Below, he talks to BUSINESS EDITOR, KOOBONYE RAMOKOPELWA on why he believes his ministry will play an even bigger role in the economy well into the future.
BOTSWANA GUARDIAN: What have been the key milestones achieved by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship (MoE) since its inception in 2022?
KARABO GARE: The key milestones achieved since 2022, include successfully defining the business architecture of MoE’s operations. The ministry is mandated, to promote the development and growth of sustainable enterprises, to define the nation’s offerings to global trade, to deliver the aspirations of Vision 2036 of the Republic of Botswana. In collaboration with our stakeholders. In the past two years, we have, incrementally, been working on implementing an enabling policy and regulatory environment to support the establishment of new enterprises, and ensure the survival and growth of the existing ones. Besides energising the entrepreneurial ecosystem through value-addition and wealth creation initiatives, the ministry has been working on revitalising its state-owned enterprises.
GUARDIAN: How has the ministry impacted the growth and sustainability of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Botswana?
GARE: The MoE is entrusted with the responsibility to nurture Informal, Small, Micro to Medium Enterprises (iSMMEs), to position these as the reliable-delivery-vehicle for Vision 2036 aspirations. iSMMEs’ role is to build strong linkages with large enterprises to promote efficiencies and create the much-needed jobs, create wealth for Batswana, define Botswana’s offerings to the global trade and build capacity for an export-led economy. I am happy to report that, the investment is bearing fruit. We are witnessing growth in the number and quality of emerging enterprises and the competency of the entrepreneurs.
GUARDIAN: Can you share some success stories of entrepreneurs who have benefited from your ministry's initiatives?
GARE: There are numerous ongoing projects and initiatives geared at delivering the economic empowerment of targeted citizens across the country. There are many, which tell the MoE’s success story, but are not limited to the following:
-Implementation of the Economic Inclusion Act, 2021 in both public and private sectors.
-Nation-wide Entrepreneurial Mind-set Change capacity building campaigns.
-Coordinating the development of clusters and value chains for different sectors of the economy, across the country
-Revitalisation of collective enterprises/cooperatives across the country
-Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) Revitalization of the Tannery to drive the leather value chain development
-Development of BMC’s Secondary Meat Processing Plant, to improve returns for farmers—particularly the primary, or base producers
-The Letsema Transitional Horticulture Market which its aim is to address food security and citizen economic empowerment, while helping increasing production capacity, and working towards reducing the debt burden of those citizens who are adversely exposed to funding institutions.
-Chema Chema, Youth Development Fund and CEDA for funding targeted citizens;
- The newly launched Maja-a-Ikgorosa Programme – to improve the beef sector with a view to enhancing citizen economic empowerment.
GUARDIAN: What new policies or frameworks has the ministry implemented to foster a more conducive environment for entrepreneurship?
GARE: The Economic Inclusion Act, 2021 demands that both public and private sectors should establish business linkages with iSMMEs and avail supply chain opportunities to them. A number of informal sector empowerment initiatives, have been established, as a collective reservation scheme that protects the informal sector from competition against well-established enterprises. This, regarding products and services that traditionally belong to the sector. Central to its mandate, the MoE finds the formation of sustainable economic clusters, value chains and collective enterprises based on resource pooling, crowdfunding, community investing, and cooperatives, to be value-adding and effective in delivering economic empowerment of targeted citizens. The ministry has therefore, allocated resources to implement measures aimed at revitalising all these collective enterprises across the country.
GUARDIAN: What are the biggest challenges the ministry has faced in promoting entrepreneurship in Botswana?
GARE: The ministry recognises the phenomenon of sub-optimal entrepreneurial culture as a societal challenge, that requires a collective response. To address this reality, we have established a dedicated unit in our organisational structure to cultivate an entrepreneurial mind-set and culture in Botswana. The unit organises capacity building campaigns, workshops, boot camps, public lectures, and masterclasses, for communities and organisations across the country. We have integrated the entrepreneurial culture and mind-set change in all our stakeholder engagement agendas, and encourage organisations, at all levels, to embrace this transformation; as well as to play an active role in bringing the entrepreneurial culture to the desired state in Botswana’s business ecosystem.
GUARDIAN: How has the ministry addressed issues related to access to financing for start-ups and small businesses?
GARE: The MoE—working in collaboration with and in support of other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), has reviewed the funding models and available opportunities for different sectors of the economy and developed targeted interventions. Examples being the Chema Chema Fund, to empower the informal sector, Temo Letlotlo and Thuo Letlotlo for Batswana in the agricultural sector and Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) loans for all enterprise development investments. A good number of companies in the mining and the banking sector now subscribe to the ideals of the Economic Inclusion Act, 2021, and have set-up formal structures to deliver Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives. This is done through Supplier & Enterprise development and progressive funding models, to aid the development of sustainable iSMMEs that are able to compete (win and effectively deliver), for emerging supply chain opportunities in both public and private sector.Access to funding, by Botswana citizens, to acquire capital equipment has improved. This has made it possible for them to enter the high value, capital intensive mining contracts space. Citizens spend of more than 50% of total spend is now feasible in both the private and public sectors.
GUARDIAN: How is the ministry addressing the challenges of engaging youth in entrepreneurship, particularly in rural areas?
GARE: We, in collaboration with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) are aligned in the commitment to empower iSMMEs across the country. Through ongoing contact—Local Authorities are being mobilised to drive the agenda in their districts. This work is being done in collaboration with MoE’s parastatals (CEDA, LEA, BMC & BAMB), offices in the districts, to bring services close to the people across the country. We support youth entrepreneurship through LEA & CEDA programs targeting the youth (working together with the Youth Development Fund (YDF) under the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport & Culture). LEA provides business planning, training and advisory services to the youth and CEDA, YDF and Chema Chema provide funding. The ministry has improved connectivity through Smart Bots, has made it possible for some of the services of the MoE to be available online and accessible to communities. From time to time, the ministry reaches out to communities across the country to introduce and give access to its programs.
GUARDIAN: What strategies are in place to help Botswana's entrepreneurs compete on a global scale?
GARE: We have a duty to ensure that local enterprises produce goods and services of defined quality & service standards that can effectively compete in the global market. In the process, emphasis is placed on capacity building, and coordinating efforts of other stakeholders in both the public and private sectors—to empower iSMMEs. The MoE in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and its Agencies, can facilitate export-ready businesses by engaging government counterparts in the targeted markets. This is done to understand the applicable policies & regulatory requirements, and then negotiate favourable terms for the local businesses to enter the market under consideration. There are opportunities for the MoE to facilitate export ready iSMMEs, to allow them to leverage the nation’s existing capacity. The ministry encourages iSMMEs to explore collaboration and or partnership opportunities in other markets, a move which will ultimately build a sustainable and resilient ecosystem.
GUARDIAN: How does the ministry plan to incorporate technology and innovation into the entrepreneurship landscape in Botswana?
GARE: Technology and innovation are recognised as critical enablers to national transformation, and the ministry’s mandate and are therefore always integral components of the solutions that we facilitate, across sectors. We recommend high tech turnkey plants from leading technology developers to establish competitive, sustainable, export ready agro processing industry.