PUBLIC, PRIVATE SECTORS PARTNER FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURSHIP POLICY
A series of meetings on the National Entrepreneurship Policy (NEP) will help public and private sector address technology challenges and dismantle barriers to innovative entrepreneurship. Before development of the NEP, SMMEs development and entrepreneurship policy in Botswana was based on the SMME Policy of 1999, then in 2013 the Ministry of Trade and Industry commissioned a study to review the policy and come up with a holistic NEP for Botswana, geared towards the promotion of entrepreneurship and SMMEs development in Botswana. In Partnership with the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, the World Bank convened industry leaders from the private and public sector.They were to ensure the draft policy reflected a common understanding of the key challenges facing Botswana’s entrepreneurs and inform a common vision for prioritized solutions that can accelerate entrepreneurship in Botswana. Minister of Investment Trade and Industry, Bogolo Kenewendo said the ministry commits to take on board all the insights derived from the policy hack and will ensure that they are considered for adoption into the NEP. She said the ever changing and disruptive technologies pose opportunities and challenges to both traditional industries as well as government therefore a new approach to public policy making being the Policy Hackathon has emerged. “To this end the policy hack is defined to help both public and private sector leaders from entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world to experiment and leverage this approach,” said Kenewendo. The new NEP is developed to provide a framework to stir the creation of new startups and expansion of existing enterprises with high growth potential as well as addressing the challenges that may constrain their development. Kenewendo highlighted that the NEP 2019 emphasizes export led growth, hence it is focused at fostering entrepreneurship as well as promoting SMMEs development with a view to creating globally competitive industries. It also strengthens coordination among all institutions involved in entrepreneurship and SMMEs development for effective implementation of the policy. “We are at the beginning of a process that is bringing together members of Botswana’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. Even after the Policy is passed by parliament, we must continue to hear from all of you to fine tune the policy’s implementation and ensure that it meets your needs and expectations,” she said.