Hoisting solutions marks milestone in grand style
Hoisting solutions company, (HS) which provides crane hire and hoisting services celebrated their 13th anniversary on Friday the 13th at an event attended by stakeholders, government officials, journalists and mining industry experts at their offices in Gaborone North.
The event was also used to unveil HS’s latest acquisition, a massive crane recently added to the company’s equipment and machinery collection.
Showcasing the impressive ability of the 45tonne behemoth, the event became a magnificent evening of speeches and networking, punctuated by a marvel of engineering and human ingenuity as the female majority shareholder, Eunice Mpoloka wowed the crowd with a practical demonstration of how the machine can hoist both heavy and light materials with ease.
Giving a keynote address, The Minister of Trade, Mmusi Kgafela started with a brief background of how the company was conceptualized by the late Hornby Tumisang and Ian Nuttall-Smith who had a dream to contribute to Botswana’s Economy.
Highlighting government’s support for the company Kgafela said, “HS was initially funded by CEDA in 2012 [then 76% citizen owned company), which was followed by a CEDA buyout in 2017 which made the company 100% foreign owned. In its quest to demonstrate commitment and compliance with the Economic Inclusion Act of 2021, HS saw it fit to sell some of its shares to a Botswana citizen.
I am proud to note that in line with my Ministries mandate, the sale of majority of shares to a citizen is just one of the examples that we can proudly point out as Citizen Economic Empowerment.
The minister also spoke of how HS has inculcated a culture where safety, health and environment (SHE) are the foundation of the company’s operations.
The minister also spoke of how HS will be launching a programme entitled, “Changing the Narrative with Lady Crane Operators” with an objective to identify and train women to become certified crane operators that are market ready in order to bridge the gender equality gap which exists not only within the broad mining industry but within the crane industry as well.
“Hoisting Solutions is setting a shining example of Women Empowerment in compliance with the government of Botswana’s Economic Inclusion Act of 2021 as well as various Citizen Economic Empowerment Policies (CEEP) for leading companies in the country, with Eunice Mpoloka now holding a remarkable 51% ownership in the company,’ said Kgafela
For her part, Mpoloka challenged corporates to consider giving HS framework agreements or long term contracts to enable the company to acquire loans to facilitate growth so that they are able to support more than the 34 families they are currently supporting through employment.
