Botswana’s Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP)

Overview

In February 2013 a Contribution Agreement was signed between the European Union (EU) represented by the European Commission (EC) and the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) to contribute to the implementation of the Action entitled: Support to the implementation of the Private Sector Development Strategy (PSDS) of Botswana and the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD).

The PSDS is a framework for support to private sector development in Botswana and was elaborated in 2008 through extensive consultations with various stakeholders. The PSDS is built on four priority areas, which are (i) trade expansion, (ii) improving labour productivity, (iii) support to trade institutions and (iv) improving the business climate.

The PSDP which was officially launched on the 23 May 2013 in Gaborone, Botswana will run for a duration of 3 years has a budget of €2.8 million (which includes Euro 2,300,000 from the EU and Euro 500,000 from the CDE) and aims to stimulate and sustain growth through diversification of the economy while building the capacities of institutions and human resources that support the private sector. The programme is meant to address some key areas of the PSDS and had already received support of other funding partners such as Chanel Corporate Foundation dedicated specifically for Women Entrepreneurship Development (WED).

The EU is the contracting authority for the PSDP, the MITI is the supervising agency, CDE is the executing agency, and Business Botswana is responsible for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of PSDP. The M&E tasks for this important project will be done using the state of art M&E framework working on a Web Based Portal being developed by a team of experts from Particip GmBH Germany.

The M&E policy for EU-funded project has a number of objectives including; i) to monitor and evaluate results and impacts; ii) to provide a basis for decision making on necessary amendments and improvements; iii) to promote accountability for resource use; and iv) to document, provide feedback on, and disseminate lessons learned. The periodic evaluations will provide the opportunity to assess early signs of project success or failure and prompt necessary adjustments.

Stakeholders

Ministry of Investment Trade and Industry (MITI); Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP); The European Union (EU) Delegation;Business Botswana(B); Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC); Local Enterprise Authority (LEA); Botswana Exporters and Manufacturers Association (BEMA); Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC); Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS); Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA); Botswana Tourism Organization (BTO); Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB); Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH); Botswana Power Corporation (BPC); Botswana Water Utilities.