Trade Minister meets manufacturers and exporters
The Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Tiroeaone Ntsima met with Botswana Exporters and Manufacturers Association (BEMA) members in Francistown on Friday to find solutions to challenges faced by local business people.
In a meeting where entrepreneurs and business owners shared their sob stories about running businesses in Botswana, Ntsima assured them the new government is doing all it can to remove the bottlenecks hindering their growth.
He pointed out that manufacturing and export diversification is central to govt’s vision of a high-income, export-led economy.
The Minister noted national policies, including the Second Transitional National Development Plan (TNDP), place a high priority on industrial development, import substitution and value addition.
Ntsima added government is determined to strengthen value chains across agriculture, mining and services while also embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
“To achieve this, we must grow our base of competitive manufacturers and enable them to scale across borders,” he said, hailing BEMA for bringing together stakeholders from the manufacturing and export sectors which he described as two ‘critical pillars’ of BW’s economic transformation agenda.
“Government is committed to creating an enabling policy environment for manufacturing and exports to thrive. This will be achieved by removing bureaucratic bottlenecks that hinder trade facilitation and business growth; strengthening trade infrastructure including industrial zones, border posts and digital platforms. We’ll also promote regional integration particularly through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and offer targeted incentives for high-value manufacturing, innovation and skills development,” declared the Trade Minister.
Ntsima assured his audience govt is well aware of the challenges they face, from access to finance and logistics constraints to compliance with export standards.
“Your concerns are valid and should not be ignored. Through continued dialogue with associations like BEMA we aim to develop responsive evidence-based policy that will unlock growth and competitiveness for local manufacturers and exporters,” revealed the Minister, who doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Francistown East.
Some of the challenges raised by manufacturers like Francistown Knitters included competition from the Chinese and Indians.
Manufacturers in the textile industry said they were under the impression there was a school uniform ban on the Asian traders, yet many ‘Chinese’ shops in the second city continue to import and sell without any repercussions.
This has reportedly led to a sharp decline of sales despite it being peak season as parents are shopping for warm clothing.
They alerted the Minister to a factory operating in Francistown, where they suspect a local is being used as a front.
One of the biggest challenges faced by BEMA members is access to financing.
Neo Sekwababe, who’s into Waste Management and hoped to expand into producing organic manure, shared her frustrations with the difficulty she encountered when trying to source funding.
“While trade imbalance is evident, Batswana are unable to take advantage and play in the space due to lack of funding,” grumbled Sekwababe.
Members suggested BEMA, just like Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), should be in a position to facilitate financing, as the current arrangement is not working for most of their members.
Responding to these concerns, Minister Ntsima said Francistown, historically known as a hub for commerce and industry, continues to play a strategic role in Botswana’s development.
However, he warned that some of the challenges raised were self-inflicted, giving an example of the Asian dominance in the city.
“Most of the traders are operating with local licenses. Those trading licenses are yours. Fronting is bad, it takes the flavor out of business,” noted Ntsima.
