PIONEERING NATIONWIDE STREET FINDERS PROJECT LAUNCHED
Botswana achieves a momentous milestone last week as a nationwide project to provide street signs across over 500 locations in the country makes great headway. Local advertising company, Alliance Media, has partnered with the Gaborone City Council, with corporate partner Orange Botswana, to kick off the project across the capital city, with 250 “Street Finders,” which will see road signage coupled with advertising boards, launched.
Building on the pioneering spirit of the Gaborone City Council in making this project come to life, mobile network operator, Orange Botswana, has seen merit in supporting this great initiative, being the major sponsor of the Street Finder Project. Orange Botswana come forth as the first Botswana corporate to adopt the platform as part of its marketing initiatives, showing full support for the Street Finder Project’s many benefits. Residents of Gaborone have already embraced the Street Finders, found at all key intersections and traffic junctions.
The project was commemorated in a handover held in Gaborone on Thursday 20th October 2017. His Worship The Mayor of Gaborone, Mr. Kagiso Thutlwe, launched the Street Finders a stone’s throw away from the City Council on Independence Avenue. Also in attendance were Alliance Media Country Operations Manager, Tana Kujinga; and Orange Botswana CEO, Dr. Patrick Benon.
His Worship The Mayor noted being pleased to be able to launch the nationwide Street Finders Project. The project has reached completion in Gaborone, and now moves to other major towns in Botswana.
This landmark moment for Botswana, which goes beyond simply providing new and innovative platforms for the local advertising industry, denotes the first substantive effort to ensuring our street names are known and used. Such developments also contribute towards enhancing Botswana’s touristic appeal as names in the vernacular will become our claims to fame. Our street finders essentially sell Botswana through Google Maps and GPS systems, for example, that Batswana and tourists are using on an increasing basis. One needs only to think of the impact this leaves for years to come to see the benefit here.
On behalf of Orange Botswana, Dr. Benon commended the innovation and sense of relevance the Street Finders project brings, noting that Orange Botswana is always keen to support meaningful and sustainable projects as this. “This is an important step for the city of Gaborone and what it means for our residents. We look forward to seeing the same positive impact across Botswana as we celebrate the beauty in our streets, the names they have been given, and a sense of simply knowing one’s city.”
A total of 250 Street Finders have been erected in Gaborone, with the project now moving to outlying locations. This includes Francistown, Maun, Selibe Phikwe, Serowe, Molepolole and Kanye. Said Ms. Kujinga, “We are excited to see such great progress being made in this nationwide project, one we have been working to bring to life for a number of years. Our gratitude goes out to the Gaborone City Council for their support and the passion and conviction they brought to this project. We thank Orange Botswana, too, for readily showing their support and commitment in this pioneering project and showing other corporate players the value in working with partners for projects such as this. They have been the first corporate to come on board, and have really fueled the growth of this project through their support and uptake.”
The nationwide Street Finder Project will see a total of 500 Street Finders erected in total. The project is expected to be completed by December 2017.