BIGGER AND EXICITING NORTHERN TRADE FAIR ON THE CARDS

Business Botswana top up the ante in the 2018 exhibitions. The 2018 Business Botswana Northern Trade Fair (BBNTF) is back again on May 23 to 24 at BB Grounds at Gerald Estates in Francistown. This year's edition of the annual platform for Businesses to promote their products ad services to a wider range of market clusters and segments has added new existing activities. In an interview with the Voice Money, Business Botswana Regional Manager, Eileen Van Der Est, said that this year's eventis going to be as inclusive as possible. "We want as many business people as we can possibly reach to be involved one way or the other," said Van Der Est, She noted that Business Botswana has observed that there were business owners in Francistown and surrounding areas that were interested in being a part of the trade fair but couldn't afford to exhibit at the Business Botswana grounds. "We have therefore decided to have golf tournament at Pomegranate Golf Resort, which will be open t business owners in Francistown and the rest of the country", she said. Activities for the 2018 BBNTF will begin on the 23 followed by Dinner Dialogue on the 24 under the theme: Is Tourism Botswana's Hope Admist Dwindling Mining Fortunes. "We'll have speakers Debating on the theme and coming up with recommendations " said Van Der Est. Another new addition t this year's event is the fashion show on the 25, which will also mark the official opening of the trade fair. " This is another platform we want to give local designers to showcase their products. the fashion show will also be open to everyone ," she said. " Our intention is to attract as many people as possible, that is why we've made it an all inclusive event ,"Van Der Est said.adding that they also have family fun day activities lined up to lure the public to the grounds. " We are still working on logistics with our partners. We are working with a cycling club in Francistown and also planning on having a horse racing," she said. There is also a five -a- side tournament planned for exhibitions. Van Der Est encouraged young business people to take the Northern Trade Fair serioulys as it is an opportunity to expand one's brand through trading with other exhibitors and clients. The faie is expected to once again boost the second city ailing economy.

EXHIBIT AT THE NORTHERN TRADE FAIR

Gerald Estate, Francistown 23 - 27 May 2018,Theme: Is tourism Botswana's hope admist dwindling mining fortunes? Guest Speaker: Mr Marcus ter Haar. Okavango Diamomd Company. Managing Director. Activities Include: Dinner Dialogue. Fashion Show. Bike Racing. Family Fun Race. Five-a side football tournament. Golf tournament.

BUSINESS BOTSWANA TO HOST 4TH WOMEN'S HIGH TEA

The Fifth instalment of Business Botswana 's (BB) Women High Tea Seminar will take place on Saturday the 12th of May. the prestigious event will be held at Cresta Lodge in Gaborone under the theme 'Be Empowered, Be a Rare Gem',and will be officiated by seasoned business woman Batsho Dambe-Groth. One of the event's objectives is to emphasise the role women paly in the growth and diversification of Botswana's economy. The tea will also be used as a platform for women to network whilst highlighting the challenges they face in business and how to overcome them. It is hoped that the day will inspire the women in attendance to develop their careers and expand their knowledge. Dambe-Groth will be joined by three other enterpreneurs and motivational speakers, who between them will touch on topics including but not limited to;'Imperfectely perfect','Channelling your inner diva' and Women in Business:Man's perspective. The target group for the event includes business women,aspiring and established enterpreneurs, women empowerment organisations, start up incubators and accelerators as well as women in the corporate world. "This year's event will include a welcome wine tasting session, a fashion show and stall view to mingle, network and interact with progressive women and also to make the event more acttractive, interesting and appealling to participants, "reads a statement from BB, which will also states that the parastatal has partnered with the Cancer Association Botswana (CAB) by giving them part of the proceeds from the event. The finds will assist CAB to fully execute its mandate, which amongst others is to raise awareness about cancer,"continues the statement.

NORTHERN TRADE FAIR COURTS ZIMBABWE TRADERS

The 2017 edition of the annual Business Botswana Northern Trade fair will mark an official partnership between Zimbabwean people and the city of Francistown. according to Business Botswana Kebaabetswe Bogatsu, the fair billed for 24-28th May will see about 20 exhibitors from Zimbabwe joining many other local business people who will throng the second city end of may. Bogatsu stated that they want to start a partnership with Zimbabwe national Chamber of commerce (ZNCC) to help strengthen trade between the two countries. "I'll be attending the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) on the 24-29th April to bench mark and also solidify the partnership for BBNTF in May", said Bogatsu. He further said they intend to find ways they can increase trade between Zimbabwe and Botswana especially Francistown. leading to the fair in May. we will organize a seminar where we will brainstorm on how Zimbabwe and Francistown can increase trade he said. The BBNTF is one of the biggest events in the city where industry professionals and market players from different sectors come together to share their innovation, ideas and business initiatives for promoting creative content and services. Bogatsu further said that they are reaching out to Zimbabwe as a neighbor as it is important for industry players to continuously explore new avenues and to make new contacts. he said they are always willing to find ways to partner with industry players to find meaningful ways of enhancing trade and private partnerships. he said just like they did last year, they have once again partnered with Human Resource Development Council (HRDC)and are going to structure another business seminar with educators in the country. The intention is to help the private sector because we have realized that there's skills gap and together with HRDC and educators we need to find ways of producing graduates needed by the market Bogatsu said. The regional manager north urged interest business people to book their space early to avoid disappointment. this is going to be one of the biggest BBNTF event offer. Already bookings stand at 80% and this excludes 20 exhibitors we are expecting from Zimbabwe, Last year the fair traded 215 exhibitors surpassing the set target of 200. one prominent exhibitor was a Slovakian businesswoman with interests in IT and security. Bogatsu encouraged young business people to take the Northern Trade fair seriously as it is an opportunity to expand one's brand through trading with other exhibitors and clients.we have made provisions for the youth, disabled and women. we are giving away two stalls. The fair is expected to once again boost the city's ailing economy. According to a research carried out after the 2015 fair car rentals, Air Botswana hotels, restaurants and super markets benefited immensely from the exhibition.

BUSINESS BOTSWANA ENGAGES PRIVATE SECTOR ON EPA

Business Botswana is organizing engagements towards educating the private sector about the EU-SADC Economic partnership Agreement. the engagements, which are conducted in the framework of the private sector Development program in partnership with the European Union and the ministry of investment Trade and Industry, will focus on other trade agreement opportunities thereof. the first set of engagements was conducted in may 2016 in Gaborone, Francistown and Maun respectively. according to a press release from Business Botswana feedback received from the three workshops raised the need to conduct the same workshops raised the need to conduct the same workshops in other locations such as Ghanzi, Selebe Phikwe, Lobatse and Palapye.

Business Botswana aids local investors

Business Botswana is developing a Market Intelligence Information System (MIIS) which will assist businesses by providing information on national, regional and international markets and on how to access them. A press release from Business Botswana says MIIS, developed within the framework of the private sector development programme,aims to provide effective and efficientonline trade intelligence service reinforcing the value added offered by Business Botswana which could support efforts for economic diversification . The release explains that the system will expose local businesses to international markets, trends, opportunities and requirements geared towards private sector development.The system, it says will also promote connectivity and linkages with retailers and wholesalers with priority sector such as beef, tourism and crafts and jewellery with the view to facilitate accessibility to prices and price structures different markets to guide decision makers. Futher, it says a local company E- tourism (pty) Ltd/Simply Botswana, has been engaged to develop the MIIS for Business Botswana and will conduct workshps in various strategic areas in Botswana in order to developan effective and useful system.

Botswana's Private Sector through the eyes of Sid Boubekeur

Sid Boubekeur,a French National may most likely come to be known in the history books of Botswana for his role that would be seen as the initial guiding steps to an established and impactful small and medium enterprises sector in the country. Boubekeur served as the Head of CDE Regional Office for Southern Africa based in Botswana. Sunday Standard 's Tlotlo Lemmenyane chit-chat with him on a number of issues affecting the private sector. Boubekeur arrived in Botswana in 2009 answering a call to action in finding and stimulating the growth points of SMMEs,a mission he told Sunday Standard that he renewed his to every day."we are not the same as yesterday" he recounted regularly saying to his team.He narrated that his fisrt contact was with the main intermediary organisations, which include in the list Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), Business Botswana (BB) and Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) because of their existing interaction with the private sector.It was after he met with some companies in 2009 as part of the situational analysis exercise, that he found out that the sector had too man small scale companies parallel to fewer big multinational companies, which exposed a gap: the absence of medium enterprise morphed in his mind as challenge, to improve the capacity of smaller scale enterprises so that they grow into medium companies.This early finding resulted in a capacity analysis from which he identified that the smaller scale interprises were facing a crucial challenge management, which was evidenced through the owners spending little time with their enterprises. He would deduce from that it was probably because the owners owned several companies which he surmised was to limit the risk of owning just one company. He also observed that the relationship between the product and the market was misaligned, estimating that about 90% enterprises consider the production of goods without first analyzing the linkages between the product,market and competition. Another common mistake he came to know of the enterprises was the oblivion to product enhancement, which in part demostration a lack of innovation. " we progress, weaknesses on how to further develop the product", to which he warned that survival becomes minimal without innovation. On the other hand, moving away from the deficiencies of enterprise owners, an audit to identify the weaknesses, strengths and potential of private sector identified an inherent problem of a limited market in Botswana, which as a consequence hindered enterprises from realizing economies of scale. Notwithstanding the disadvantage, Botswana possesses strength in terms of minimum conditions required to be met in starting a business, which he attributed largely to the existence of various support structures. Close to hundred SMMEs were identified for participation in the audit process which showed where they might be falling short, and where small interventions could give the beneficiaries the necessary skills and focus to overcome their business challenges, cities the PSDP final draft report. Now in 2016 looking back to the initial situation analysis, Boubekeur spots the differences. "I see some changes on the approach of SMMEs, at least those we support,"he said. He attributed the results to the contribution made by international enterprises in analyzing the local enterprises" products, from which they provided advice and action plan,"we will soon some impact," he said.

Botswana's Private Sector through the eyes of Sid Boubekeur CON'T

"I'm optimistic that from 100, maybe only 30 will emerge and could lead, our goal is that companies follow the best, we hope we could have a minimum 30 companies which could be what we call 'reference companies'. One of the objectives is to take these 30 companies to mentor the other, If they're from the same sector it's their interest to see the sector grow; very important to engage companies of the same sector which which could play a role of mentorship. At the end what is important is the growth of the sector,it's not only the growth of the company" he said. Boubekeur opined, a statement likely to be a hard pill for the local enterprises to swallow, that enterpreneurs in Botswana have become very attached to the support structures so much that they seem divorced from the ability to operate independently. He lauded organisations such as LEA, which through their tool kit train and support SMMEs which he said come from nothing, an exercise he deemed close to impossible , "organisations in Botswana are implementing their mandate", he said adding that they work symbiotically without competing with each other, a relationship which PSDP established interaction from to provide further linkages.The challenge, he said, rests on SMMEs to take advantages of the support structures because the enviroment could potentially change."What is missing is SMMEs catching the assets, knowledge of thse organisations. Maybe they get too much (support). Among 100 companies, you'll find maybe 15% which get the support of LEA,which get the support of CEDA, now they get the support of PSDP, they want again more. Frankly we can't build a business like that",he said. An encounter he shared was that after visiting SMMEs which presented 1000 challenges, from which the solution the suggested normally was "we'll request CEDA to put more money", he then realized that inciting shock in them could make them think outside."Close," he demanded of them,"if you have 1000 challenges, why still operate? so just close," he instructed them. The reaction from the SMMEs was how he provoked debate, because in the SMMEs mind was an expectation that help fall from somewhere. SMMEs have to shake themselves up, its the most weakness part, it's where we have to work, majority are always expecting. Managers have to take risks, do innovation and need to know when to cut the umbilical cord,"he said. "The start of a compan is to take risk," a trait which however he observed that a majority of SMMEs in Botswana do not appl. "I think all problem is here - why they don't take risk? Because the risk is coverd.," he said. When the time came to leave Botswana in March 2016, ceding PSDP to BB, Boubekeur at his appreciation dinner heartily conveyed that something Botswana possesses that is hard to find anywhere else in the world is peace, a trait he asked Botswana to guard very closely. BB had previously worked closely with Boubekeur on PSDP, involved specifically in monitoring and evaluation, but however his departure saw the ordely transfer of the program from CDE to BB, which occurred in November 2015. Taking over the baton BB, in partnership with EU delegation, MITI,MFDP, postulates that "continuous improvement, close monitoring of projects and regular feedback, adopting a culture of monitoring, evaluation and learning," will maintain the success trajectory PSDP. According to BB CEO Dr. Racious Moatshe BB has now adopted the use of tools such as work plans to ensure an ordely roll-out of activities. He advised that SMMEs should strengthen their internal capacity and capabilities to enhance growth and sustainability."BB is of the view that effective capacity building will enventually lead to improvement in profit margins thus creating employment for the private sector. Through M&E (monitoring and evaluation) a preliminary evaluation is giving positive picture. The challenge is for the enterpreneurs themselves to maintain their attitude in line with what they learnt from various interventions," Dr. Moatshe posited.

Private Business Growth Award Launched

Business Botswana (BB) has called on private businesses to exploit all the opportunities presented to them to grow their their businesses. Speaking at the launch of this year's Private Business Growth Award, chief executive officer of Business Botswana, Dr Racious Moatshe said his organisation is striving to grow and nurture the private sector. Grant Thornton awards essential services being out-sourcing, taxation and advisory as well as media and advertising opportunities to prestigious award winner. Business Botswana presents ayear of free membership for the winnersin each category" he said. Moatshe said the private business growth award, which was introduced in 2015 as a combined effort between Grant Thornton and Business Botswana, was meant to recognise and appreciate privately in their strides to contribute to growing the Botswana economy.He said Business Botswana they cannot distance themselves from the challenges,efforts and achievements of the eprivate sector in Botswana hence their continued support for the growth awards in its second year running. "It is through events of this nature that local businesses can align their portfolios and restructure for growth given the blueprint set by Grant Thornton. Grant Thornton have been involved with private businesses and owner managed businesses for the last 30 odd years and they are the right partners for us to encourage appreciation to the private sector"said Moatshe. He said the award has now been extended to two categories being small to medium enterprise and medium to large interprise, adding that this is notable addition as now private businesses of different scales stand a chance to also share their growth stories.According to CEO, the selection criteria for the growth awards challenges businesses to be the best in their respective industries. " As a business there has to be something that sets you apart from the rest. the awards present an opportunity to share the metamorphosis stories of the business which in turn is motivation to do more in terms of succeeding" said Moatshe. He noted that just by going through the selection criteria, private business can assess their importance towards this great country and the role they can and are playing to develop the economy.

BUSINESS BOTSWANA CHAMBER TRUST SEAL TO BOOST LOCAL BUSINESS EXPOSURE TO GLOBAL MARKET

Business Botswana advises local business to subscribe for the chamber trust seal to authenticate their businesses and boost their exposure to the global markets. any company or business can subscribe to this seal through Business Botswana. primarily the seal is designed to assist small and medium sized enterprises (SME's) that are already active in or interested in developing new markets in the international world. any company in the world with a corporate website can apply for a chamber trust seal with their respective local, regional, or national chamber of commerce and in our case Business Botswana. the website is meant to create the link that businesses need to the global client. this Chamber trust is a standardized worldwide chamber tool designed to deal with online trust, confidence and lack of exposure issues that SMEs face when they enter the global electronic market place. as a trusted search engine excursively focused on companies, their activities and product lines, this is the long awaited solution to this problem that small and medium enterprises has been experiencing over the years. apart from the extra 'peace of mind' for the visitors to a sealed company's website, the business to business verification seal allows companies around the world to easily find potential new business partners whose existence, profile, products and services have been verified by a chamber of commerce Trust is the first real world wide B to B trust seal dedicated to international trade. Through the validation by a chamber of Commerce of objective information about a given company and through the publishing of a database of beneficiary companies on the existing world chambers Network site these companies are given exposure and impact on the global market. TARGET MARKET This exercise is targeting SMEs interested/engaged in International customers (hotels), mainly (but not exclusively) in the B@B domain, and having a website. BENEFITS OF CHAMBER TRUST SEAL Authentication- it provides the impact and recognition created by verification from qualified Chambers of Commerce allowing a company to stand out. this benefit also extend to setting chamber trust apart from social media by virtue of authentication process through the use of chamber of commerce the business registered is affiliated to visibility it gives global exposure through the world Chamber Network site. it includes a free publishing service in the Global Media Room that allows companies to increase their visibility even more. cost effective in the context of advertising the service is much cheaper compared to other advertising media. Earning Chamber trust logo, the subscription offers the usage of the chamber trust logo in your correspondence and website. it promotes the company's new products and services regularly with more comprehensive search engine.

THE SONG OF THE BEES

This is the eleventh in a series of articles that present the work and findings of Botswana and European Union service providers as part of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP). The following article presents his findings and impressions with businesses he supported in the framework of the PSDP. In its aspiration to strengthen and diversify the economy, the government of Botswana with the support of the European Union has started a national program for the development of the private sector’s small and medium industries under the framework of the PSDP. 100 companies were selected to benefit from PSDP interventions during the 3-year programme, which is supported by the European Union Delegation, the Ministry of Finance Development and Planning (MFDP) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI); and executed by, the Centre for Development of Enterprise (CDE) in collaboration with Business Botswana. CDE-PSDP has entered into a partnership with Senior Expert Services (SES), Germany, to help these companies to get more competitive. The SES is a non-profit organization that offers interested retirees the opportunity to pass on their skills and knowledge to qualifying enterprises. My three week long assignment in July 2015 was to coach three companies from the ICT sector, especially in issues of communication; including marketing, sales and internal communication. ICT and its rapidly changing technology base is a critical cornerstone for the success of many organisations. Staying successful requires permanent adaption of skills and a relentless focus on efficiency, which means that responsibilities and processes must be known, accepted and improved. Learning from your customers Being a jack-of-all-trades in today’s business environment is a sure recipe for disaster. Therefore, knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses is essential in order to pick potential projects with a high degree of probable success. By looking at your projects and selecting those that were highly successful, it is quite easy to find out where your capabilities and your execution skills are strong. However, the ‘unsuccessful’ projects can also teach you important lessons, as either your capabilities or your execution skills were strained – indicators of where your business should either improve or stay away. Clear responsibilities A clear field of responsibilities (the ‘playground’) where you are accepted as being in command is high on the wish list of every employee, but rarely is it expressed or documented. However, for a hypothetical company, it is quite easy to come up with a list of the major responsibilities of its main departments, such as production, quality assurance, procurement, sales, marketing, research and development, finance, human resources and management. Asking the management team of a company to write down their respective responsibilities and compare the two lists is interesting. Not because there will be many gaps, but because there may be a number of overlaps of responsibilities between managers; a sure indicator of conflicts, frustrations and exhaustive overwork. Having clear responsibilities assigned for each of the internal departments is essential for designing optimized business processes, as these can be seen as simply chains of responsibilities– like a production chain– to transform a certain input into the desired output. The law of communication: Ask! Like many other techniques, communication, at its core, is simply a method to get what you want in an environment where the participants have roughly equal negotiating power. Negotiating power in this case is defined as the capability to say ‘no’ to a proposal. Communication is like a trade in the market, where one must agree on a price with the supplier of the things one wants to buy: If you want something from your counterpart, you must be prepared to give them something of value to them – this does not always need to be money; it can also be in the form of recognition, praise or a service. In a sense, the roles of seller and buyer become reversed. So, how can you find out what it is that you should offer to your counterpart so that he wants to do business with you? Just listen to the song of the bees! “If you want honey, you should care about the bees and their trees” This is a powerful song indeed; in order for bees to thrive, they need a number of environmental factors to be in balance. If you take the honey, but also chop down the trees for firewood, you will have no more honey in the future. The bees will leave, as they have nothing to create their honey with. Good companies have long- lasting business relationships with their clients. They do repeat business with them. They get honey again and again, because they have understood the critical issues these clients have to deal with; they have understood the fine balance between the ‘honey and the trees’ in their clients. Seen this way, a good sales person will not start with advertising the products or services of his company, but will first try to understand what the real needs of her counterparts are and how these could be satisfied. She needs to find the ‘trees;’ to show that she understands the client’s true needs and is able to address them. Motivating your workforce Grooming and maintaining a motivated workforce is like the holy grail of organisational development. Therefore, many ideas of what is needed to get there were discussed: Free information flow, accessibility of management, recognition of achievements, being involved in decisions, a fair salary and job security are all fertile grounds for productivity. Research has shown that all these arguments can be condensed into just three categories, which describe three levels of excellence to attain a motivated workforce: • The products or services you provide make others’ lives better. Your work is worthwhile. • You know your responsibilities and are well equipped to deliver them, which provides for a conducive work environment. • Employees that perform well are recognized and praised. Again, it is not about the number of items produced, but what this means for the survival of your company, the improvements of your community and for your clients. It is not about waiting to be told what to do, but, having the training to do what is needed, seeing the need and reacting accordingly. It is not about scolding people on errors they made in the first place, but rather providing constructive criticism and promoting the things done right so that others can emulate good performance. The challenges are: • How can employees experience, that what their company does is worthwhile and their part in getting it done is therefore also worthwhile and important? • How can everybody know what he/she is supposed to do (the “playground”) and why (his/her role in the company)? • How can the employees see that what they do really advances the company, gives it a future? How do you know the people feel fairly compensated for what they do? Deliberating topics like these within a company and taking even small steps of improvement will no doubt have a big impact on the success in the future. Herbert Wenk has 25 years of experience in the ITC industry with a focus on sales, marketing and communication.

Value Chains in Botswana – Entry Points for Donor support

As part of a series on the capacitation of local businesses under the auspices of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), Talitha Bertelsmann- Scott weighs in on the key areas for donors to assist in uplifting and stimulating the SMME sector in Botswana. Recent analyses of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) in Botswana highlighted focus areas for donor support to promote the growth of the SMME sector. This will go a long way towards the graduation of some SMMEs; seeing them become able to develop regional value chains that economists and policy makers covet for regional economic industrialisation and development. The SMMEs interviewed all formed part of the PSDP coordinated and previously implemented by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) for Southern Africa. The implementation function of the Programme is now moving to Business Botswana (BB). Close to a hundred SMMEs were identified for participation in the audit process which showed where they might be falling short, and where small interventions could give the beneficiaries the necessary skills and focus to overcome their business challenges. All the SMMEs interviewed showed remarkable benefit from the interventions- some moving from the brink of collapse to increased profit margins and turn-around in record time. SMMEs could be categorised into three groups: those that were struggling with the enabling environment, like micro-financiers. Secondly, there were SMMEs at the brink of increasing their manufacturing activities. A third group included those that still need specific training without any access to such training opportunities in Botswana. M. Sid Boubekeur, Head of CDE regional Office for Southern Africa said, ‘’The value chains studies elaborated under PSDP provide comprehensive analysis of challenges, opportunities and pragmatic recommendations which could be implemented in the short term by the public and private sector. Among these are the diversification of products, effective marketing, branding and packaging. This could be achieved together with the upgrading of the management capacity of the producers and negotiation of commercial agreements with distribution networks. The proposed action plan can be used by Government, Intermediary Organizations and sector associations to effectively develop the value chain, impacting positively on new investment and employment while building the capacities of institutions and human resources that supports it’’. The Enabling Environment Regional value chain (RVC) development and industrialisation theory tells us that the enabling environment is critical to the establishment and growth of businesses in developing countries, as they lead to incorporation into regional and global value chains (GVC). In line with this theory, the PSDP implemented a project, bringing together actors from the private sector as well as the government and regulators in Botswana in order to develop a micro-financing policy framework. On the face of it, the project was highly successful. Participation was broad and the level of engagement during the process high. Vigorous debate and a democratic process eventually led to a framework policy being drafted and placed on the desk of the Ministry of Trade and Industry for introduction to cabinet and eventual tabling in parliament. SMMEs in the micro-financing sector were in agreement that this policy and its implementation are critical to the development of the sector, which would allow the lenders to develop more products that could give individuals, especially the unemployed youth, the boost to become entrepreneurs. Current lending products are predominantly based on payroll lending, which means that it excludes those that are most likely to start a small business. From a donor perspective, the project was highly relevant, was effectively and efficiently implemented and yet the impact is zero. Should donors, therefore, get involved in government processes where the outcomes are uncertain or is there value in the exercise in and of itself? The proposed action plan can be used by Government, Intermediary Organizations and sector associations to effectively develop the value chain, impacting positively on new investment and employment while building the capacities of institutions and human resources that supports it. Nascent Manufacturers The small manufacturing sector remains the Holy Grail for small, developing countries. Many successful developing economies, like the Asian Tigers, built their development trajectory on manufacturing. In South Africa, unions focus exclusively on this sector and see it as delivering ‘real’ jobs to the unemployed youth sector of its economy. Similar aspirations exist throughout the region. The PSDP intervened in a few small SMMEs that have been adding value to products imported to Botswana from the East via South Africa. T-shirts are embroidered and printed in Botswana for corporate clients and tourists. The interventions have shown the high growth potential for these SMMEs but questions remain whether producing t-shirts in Botswana would be a cost-effective way to expand these businesses. The export markets exist in neighbouring Namibia and Zambia and the companies can be competitive here, even without the added manufacturing of t-shirts at home. It remains unclear whether there would be an added advantage to reintroduce this capacity to Botswana; how price competitive would they be considering initial lay-out costs and labour prices in the country? More analysis needs to be done, but capacitating these SMMEs are a good point of focus for the Government of Botswana and donors active in the field. A real regional value chain could come about with a small but targeted intervention. Skills Training A final group of SMMEs found themselves in a position where they urgently needed additional training which was not available in Botswana. Whereas businesses that pay VAT can benefit from access to free training in Botswana up to a certain level of their VAT contribution, this benefit does not extend beyond the borders. Seeking training in South Africa becomes prohibitively expensive, curtailing the growth potential of these SMMEs. A company interviewed here was one of the few independent bakeries in Botswana and whilst it has shown good growth since it started- even more so since the PSDP intervention. Its growth potential now hinges on the chefs being trained on a broader range of baking skills and products. Again, potential markets exist in other towns in Botswana, as well as export markets in neighbouring Namibia and Zambia with input import from South Africa, but without the necessary skills training, it is unlikely that this SMME will continue to grow. Again, a small, targeted donor intervention could unlock the development of this regional value chain. Conclusions The work that the PSDP initiated is far from complete. Donors and agencies of the Botswana government looking for good foundations on which to build regional value chains should perhaps look here and continue to work with Business Botswana to further develop the already identified, audited and capacitated SMMEs to now help them unlock further growth in the region. Opportunities abound, the answer lies in targeting the micro-level directly. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and Business Botswana. Talitha Bertelsmann- Scott is an expert with the Particip/ Business Botswana PSDP Monitoring and Evaluation team.

Value Chains in Botswana – Entry Points for Donor support

As part of a series on the capacitation of local businesses under the auspices of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), Talitha Bertelsmann- Scott weighs in on the key areas for donors to assist in uplifting and stimulating the SMME sector in Botswana. Recent analyses of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) in Botswana highlighted focus areas for donor support to promote the growth of the SMME sector. This will go a long way towards the graduation of some SMMEs; seeing them become able to develop regional value chains that economists and policy makers covet for regional economic industrialisation and development. The SMMEs interviewed all formed part of the PSDP coordinated and previously implemented by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) for Southern Africa. The implementation function of the Programme is now moving to Business Botswana (BB). Close to a hundred SMMEs were identified for participation in the audit process which showed where they might be falling short, and where small interventions could give the beneficiaries the necessary skills and focus to overcome their business challenges. All the SMMEs interviewed showed remarkable benefit from the interventions- some moving from the brink of collapse to increased profit margins and turn-around in record time. SMMEs could be categorised into three groups: those that were struggling with the enabling environment, like micro-financiers. Secondly, there were SMMEs at the brink of increasing their manufacturing activities. A third group included those that still need specific training without any access to such training opportunities in Botswana. M. Sid Boubekeur, Head of CDE regional Office for Southern Africa said, ‘’The value chains studies elaborated under PSDP provide comprehensive analysis of challenges, opportunities and pragmatic recommendations which could be implemented in the short term by the public and private sector. Among these are the diversification of products, effective marketing, branding and packaging. This could be achieved together with the upgrading of the management capacity of the producers and negotiation of commercial agreements with distribution networks. The proposed action plan can be used by Government, Intermediary Organizations and sector associations to effectively develop the value chain, impacting positively on new investment and employment while building the capacities of institutions and human resources that supports it’’. The Enabling Environment Regional value chain (RVC) development and industrialisation theory tells us that the enabling environment is critical to the establishment and growth of businesses in developing countries, as they lead to incorporation into regional and global value chains (GVC). In line with this theory, the PSDP implemented a project, bringing together actors from the private sector as well as the government and regulators in Botswana in order to develop a micro-financing policy framework. On the face of it, the project was highly successful. Participation was broad and the level of engagement during the process high. Vigorous debate and a democratic process eventually led to a framework policy being drafted and placed on the desk of the Ministry of Trade and Industry for introduction to cabinet and eventual tabling in parliament. SMMEs in the micro-financing sector were in agreement that this policy and its implementation are critical to the development of the sector, which would allow the lenders to develop more products that could give individuals, especially the unemployed youth, the boost to become entrepreneurs. Current lending products are predominantly based on payroll lending, which means that it excludes those that are most likely to start a small business. From a donor perspective, the project was highly relevant, was effectively and efficiently implemented and yet the impact is zero. Should donors, therefore, get involved in government processes where the outcomes are uncertain or is there value in the exercise in and of itself? The proposed action plan can be used by Government, Intermediary Organizations and sector associations to effectively develop the value chain, impacting positively on new investment and employment while building the capacities of institutions and human resources that supports it. Nascent Manufacturers The small manufacturing sector remains the Holy Grail for small, developing countries. Many successful developing economies, like the Asian Tigers, built their development trajectory on manufacturing. In South Africa, unions focus exclusively on this sector and see it as delivering ‘real’ jobs to the unemployed youth sector of its economy. Similar aspirations exist throughout the region. The PSDP intervened in a few small SMMEs that have been adding value to products imported to Botswana from the East via South Africa. T-shirts are embroidered and printed in Botswana for corporate clients and tourists. The interventions have shown the high growth potential for these SMMEs but questions remain whether producing t-shirts in Botswana would be a cost-effective way to expand these businesses. The export markets exist in neighbouring Namibia and Zambia and the companies can be competitive here, even without the added manufacturing of t-shirts at home. It remains unclear whether there would be an added advantage to reintroduce this capacity to Botswana; how price competitive would they be considering initial lay-out costs and labour prices in the country? More analysis needs to be done, but capacitating these SMMEs are a good point of focus for the Government of Botswana and donors active in the field. A real regional value chain could come about with a small but targeted intervention. Skills Training A final group of SMMEs found themselves in a position where they urgently needed additional training which was not available in Botswana. Whereas businesses that pay VAT can benefit from access to free training in Botswana up to a certain level of their VAT contribution, this benefit does not extend beyond the borders. Seeking training in South Africa becomes prohibitively expensive, curtailing the growth potential of these SMMEs. A company interviewed here was one of the few independent bakeries in Botswana and whilst it has shown good growth since it started- even more so since the PSDP intervention. Its growth potential now hinges on the chefs being trained on a broader range of baking skills and products. Again, potential markets exist in other towns in Botswana, as well as export markets in neighbouring Namibia and Zambia with input import from South Africa, but without the necessary skills training, it is unlikely that this SMME will continue to grow. Again, a small, targeted donor intervention could unlock the development of this regional value chain. Conclusions The work that the PSDP initiated is far from complete. Donors and agencies of the Botswana government looking for good foundations on which to build regional value chains should perhaps look here and continue to work with Business Botswana to further develop the already identified, audited and capacitated SMMEs to now help them unlock further growth in the region. Opportunities abound, the answer lies in targeting the micro-level directly. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and Business Botswana. Talitha Bertelsmann- Scott is an expert with the Particip/ Business Botswana PSDP Monitoring and Evaluation team.

IDM Sharpens Business Management Skills of Local SMEs Through the PSDP

In our series on the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), various authors have shared their insights into the challenges and solutions pertaining to the local business climate. In order to empower local entrepreneurs, the PSDP in partnership with several local and international business experts and agencies, conducted a series of diagnoses and capacitation exercises. Local consultant, Malebogo Gaebepe shares her insights into our local farming and tourism businesses and how they can thrive. It has been observed that SMEs around the world are struggling to deal with worldwide economic, political and social turbulence leading to financial instability, new competitors and severe operational challenges. SMEs in Botswana are of no exception. Through the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), the Institute of Development Management (IDM) through its Entrepreneurship Centre had an opportunity to participate in what has been a priority in the Botswana Government’s agenda towards economic diversification. The mandate to upscale the skills of business people, who were already demonstrating resilience by thriving through challenges, was exciting and the IDM team knew it came with great responsibility. The responsibility lay with helping the participating business people to understand that the knowledge and skills required to run their businesses were intrinsic within them, and all they had to do was put them into practice. Alignment was also going to be a challenge in that, most business people focus more on production and selling, and leave out the critical components of running businesses, which are usually the enablers of growth and success. Through the review of the various SME portfolios, IDM was able to design a specific programme for the pertaining challenges. The programme was built around successes, failures, and best practice. This created a robust programme which emphasised best practice, key areas which present pitfalls, and highlighted areas of success to uphold. The team also wanted a programme which business people would relate to in terms of their specific industry dynamics. Five areas were identified: business management foundation skills, supervisory concept and skills, accounting and finance, managing operations, marketing and sales. These were further broken down into smaller units. Businesses there represented included were vegetable farming, poultry farming, pig farming, water production, hospitability, horticulture, pottery and basket weaving. Entrepreneurs were from different areas of the country. The approach used by the IDM team was that of co-teaching and co-coaching. The advantage about the model was that it ensured a balance in all areas of business by ensuring a thorough investigation as well as a holistic solution to problems and challenges. The programme was designed to address issues which were at hand and participants’ individual businesses were used as case studies throughout the training process. There were practical examples and guidance based on the real time issues. Templates were also provided for use back in the businesses. Areas which were observed to be common and persistent were thoroughly investigated through the sessions and possible solutions suggested based on the expert' guidance. The diagnostic process revealed that challenges were not necessarily industry or businesses specific, but rather generic features in all of the businesses. Entrepreneurs were observed to have difficulties in identifying the challenges they were facing in the running of their organisations. This lead to them coming up with strategies or initiatives which addressed the symptoms instead of the actual problems. Applying ‘stop- gap’ measures to address the symptoms and not the core problem is how businesses are able to realise temporary improvements but in no time, the challenging situation repeats itself. The training program focused on guiding entrepreneurs in investigating their challenges in order to allow them to identify real problems and develop solutions which speak to their businesses’ core issues, instead of addressing the symptoms. During the sessions, we realised that participants are casual about running their businesses; They were not strongly focused on the growth potential of their businesses, neither did they successfully leverage on the opportunities which would allow them to grow. Instead, they were more concerned about making sure that their organisations continue to exist. This is why efforts were more focused on producing and selling their goods instead of the bigger dimension of growing their businesses. According to them, growth is understood as an increase in sales instead of growth in wealth and diversification of product and service offerings. While we acknowledge that some of the financiers are doing their best in disbursing funds accurately to businesses, local entrepreneurs have a culture of over- borrowing, especially when there is an opportunity to do so with the continued assistance from government agencies. This is proving to cripple business people as they forego many of their plans and look for ways to solicit more funding, leading to more debt and loss of focus. Many entrepreneurs want extra funding to finance the growth of their businesses, which leads to them upscaling their projects without acquiring the right amount of funding to sustain the new model. The diagnoses also revealed that participants have products and services which can readily sell and have a strong position in the market. All products appeared to have great potential in competing with market leaders. It was also seen that there is a need to do an industry analysis on a small scale, specific to the different sectors. Information is usually available through the government agencies, but it is usually at a higher level, informing readers about government initiatives- information that is not necessarily tailored for entrepreneurs. While the Botswana Government continues to find ways to facilitate entrepreneurship growth through programmes like the PSDP, it’s important to be aware that more initiatives should be likewise geared towards addressing issues specific to our local climate and individual business challenges. The growth of entrepreneurs in the country is a priority and all efforts must speak to that priority. Projects such as the PDSP are making an impact and adding real value in areas which are often otherwise overlooked. The PSDP is an initiative of the Botswana Government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM. Malebogo Gaebepe is a Senior Consultant and a Team Leader in the areas of Business Management and Entrepreneurship Development at IDM.

Lebang Setso Leather designer and Crafters in Paris

As part of the interventions in the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), in partnership with the Chanel Foundation and the Women Entrepreneurship Development (WED) Programme, Lebang Kolagano, co -founder of Lebang Setso leather crafters was invited to undergo a benchmarking mission to Paris, France between the 9th and 14th of October, this year. Kolagano’s mission included the attendance of the Chanel Corporate Foundation seminar, benchmarking with established leatherworks companies, engaging in skills transfer exercises and seeking out partnership opportunities. Kolagano was enthused as she spoke about her experiences in France; she got the opportunity to visit fashion houses such as Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Chanel- as well as meet with their leather suppliers and ruminate on the possibilities for partnerships and supplies in Botswana. The mission began with Kolagano attending the 2015 Chanel Corporate Foundation Seminar. The objective of the seminar was to bring together beneficiaries from different NGOs across the globe and Chanel Foundation staff under one roof to give feedback on progress, share knowledge and to network. The different training sessions were on: knowledge management, gender development and evaluation. “I attended the first workshop on knowledge management, which taught us the importance of keeping data and information in systems that are efficient and can easily flow from one department to the other.” The knowledge management session was followed by an interactive presentation on women and the business environment, led by Marie - Dominique de Sureman, and expert in gender and development at NGO, Gender in Action. This was followed by a series of other workshops, including 6 groups that were led by different organisations on crucial topics on women empowerment. “As the only beneficiary within the whole seminar, I gave testimony to this, and spoke about the impact of the PSDP-WED interventions thus far.” As she met with different designers and suppliers, she was impressed with the diversity of the leather value chain. “Their leather industry is bigger than I ever imagined. When one is in leather in Botswana, they are either in tanning or manufacturing. But with them, they have divided these larger segments into smaller sections and many people have carved out a niche for themselves… I met a man whose major business is to source leather, so he travels all over the world looking for good quality leather.” Kolagano learned that in order to grow her business, she would have to transform her systems in all areas, including production and administration, and work out a functional easy flow of information from one department to the other. Kolagano was also able to glean knowledge from the way in which different leather crafters run their workshops: “I visited Nicolas Menard’s studio in Charonne, Paris. He is the owner of ‘’La Maroquinerie’’, a reputable leather bags studio that samples for a wide variety of brands including Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Hermes. All studios had their designs in Illustrator or Photoshop. It is more practical to keeping designs on paper because paper is easily worn and occupies a lot of studio wall space.” In addition, digital designs can be reprinted, easily identified and improved upon without having to start from scratch, which saves time. Mernard also has a cutting machine that plots the designs from the computer to cut. Other machines which aid Mernard’s process. “All in all, it was a great opportunity to gain expertise, network, form relationships and learn better ways to manage my workflow and space. I learnt that I really need to get organised in all areas both production and administration and work out a functional easy flow of information from one department to the other.” Regarding leather design, Kolagano noted that there are studios that do design work only such as at Vincent Du Sartel, who is currently the leather expert for the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) under the WED programme. These design studios cover research on the trends, moods, and souls of the brand. They make the product relevant and resonate with their clients. Kolagano noted that the brand Lebang Setso needs to be explored for what it is, and its offerings enhanced and cultivated in order to position the brand. The capacitation was by no means a ‘one- way’ exercise. Kolagano realised that the design and production of leather bags and accessories in the West tends to be prescribed, governed by international fashion trends, which means that the designs from different fashion houses end up looking quite similar. Leather crafters and designers were interested in Kolagano’s treatment of her leather bags, and in the way in which she executed her stitching. She was able to share key elements of her design and production process with them, as well. “I asked whether I have to change my style in order to fit in with their aesthetic, and they said that by no means is that necessary. They also said that they are also tired of seeing the same old designs, so they need challenging bags. This is why they also need to travel and see things that are different from what they produce.” “I saw how work space is effectively used for efficient production flow. Since my arrival in Botswana I have rearranged our workspaces to individualise work areas and to have specific workspaces for the different production stages which has created more space around our workshop.” In closing, Kolagano said that it is also very critical that we know and really understand our target market and work hard to maintain it. “I was given an example of a workshop that handcrafts and does only maximum of 5 bags per month and is able to cover all overheads and make profit because she knows her market and is making exclusive custom made designs.” The PSDP is an initiative of the Botswana Government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for Development of Enterprise and Business Botswana (formerly BOCCIM). Lebang Kolagano is the head designer and co- founder of Lebang Setso leather crafters and a beneficiary of the PSDP- WED programme.

Private Sector Development Programme – Driving the Future of Local SMMEs

The Private Sector Development Programme has recently begun the individual coaching of local businesses, after the selection of 100 SMMEs in various sectors including agro- business, tourism, manufacturing and construction. Previous articles elucidated the process of the diagnosis of local companies, and touched on some of the challenges faced by local SMMEs. This is the first in a series of articles that will present the work and findings of Botswana and EU service providers. The individual coaching will speak to the specific challenges of individual businesses in response to the aspiration of several of Botswana’s goals to strengthen her economy, including the Economic Diversification Drive and the theme of the National Development Plan (NDP) 10, 2009- 2016 and will conclude in 2016. Since early March 2015 I have been assisting 10 SMEs with business management, commercial and financial matters. The goal of the mission is to build up solid corporate structures reflecting best practices, which over time should enable the beneficiaries to become well known and recognized players in their home markets; enable them to pursue opportunities in export markets; and, to obtain equity and bank financing. The first meetings with the entrepreneurs quickly crystallized which areas of their companies require attention. In the course of the 3-month intervention, potential solutions will be discussed and implemented. In-depth analysis of their businesses helps management understand the differences between fixed and variable costs, direct costs and overhead costs, readily facilitating the distribution of these costs per segment and determining the profitability. Once completed, the exercise will form the basis of increasing overall profitability and strengthen their equity towards growth. A proactive sales and marketing approach will enhance the companies’ market penetration, both nationally and internationally. Additionally, this can be key to overcome seasonality and capacity utilization issues. Establishing personal relationships and regular contacts with customers is paramount to understand customers’ needs and their respective businesses. Management should have an ear to the market so as to stay abreast of current developments, innovations and opportunities. This includes their competitors’ activities and also the nature of competition. Combined with attractive incentives to sales staff, this should help improve market recognition and penetration. Capacity expansion seems to be a challenge for the majority of businesses, encompassing issues about which machine is the most suitable; how the investment will affect profitability and how it should be financed. An investment calculation which takes all parameters – including initial capital layout, additional revenues and cost savings, interest on the loan and tax effects – into account helps to answer these questions from the financial side. However, non-monetary aspects form an important part of the decision. Capacity, quality of the output, availability of spare parts, warranty conditions, power and consumable consumption and maintenance intervals should be considered when making the final decision. When it comes to financing, some degree of reluctance and insecurity can be observed. Reasons include banks’ hesitance to provide finance given the perceived “liquidity crunch”, high interest rates, banks’ demand of collateral which puts constraints on the companies, and banks’ lack of tailor-made solutions. Therefore, we looked into alternative solutions to free up internal resources that can be used for financing. This brought us back to improving working capital management and to comb through the companies’ asset base to identify obsolete items that can be sold to generate the required funds. Finally, retained profits grow the equity base over time and improve financial strength. International Organisation of Standards (ISO) Certification is getting ever more relevant as many customers, including government, are increasingly attaching importance to the certification of their suppliers. The Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) provides companies with written guidelines, however a degree of uncertainty prevails as to whether individual company documents and explanations will meet BOBS requirements. Certification rejection often results in increased fees, which companies are seeking to avoid. Trainings on how to meet the standards are in short supply, and in the interim companies are required to tap alternative sources of knowledge to avoid a costly trial-and-error approach. The PSDP is aware of these challenges and has partnered with the EU-ACP Technical Barrier to Trade Programme (TBT) to assist BOBS in the drafting of a National Quality Policy, capacitation of BOBS staff, capacitation of local service providers and conduct a workshop on the World Trade Organization (WTO) / TBT Agreement. As the intervention began in early March, the majority of work still lies ahead for the beneficiary organizations. In the short term, implementation of the changes discussed will build substantial management capacity. Together with the determination of many entrepreneurs towards successful operations a solid foundation of corporate development is being laid. As the end of my mission approaches, local Intermediary Organisations and service providers will continue the work initiated. Over time, I trust this will result in solid corporate structures equivalent to those prevailing in developed markets, along with better Botswana market penetration and the growth of name/ brand recognition will facilitate the next steps: export markets and access to financial markets. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM. Birgit Heinzelmann is an ex-banker from Germany supporting the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for three months as a consultant via Management Without Borders.

Tourism Sector Has Potential for Growth- SES MWB Expert

In the continuation of articles about the activities of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and the first instalment of articles by sector experts in the PSDP, Birgit Heinzelmann wrote of the challenges and recommendations made to local SMMEs, emphasising the importance of building solid corporate structures reflecting best practices. This is the second in a series of articles that will present the work and findings of Botswana and EU service providers. The individual coaching will speak to the specific challenges of individual businesses in response to the aspiration of several of Botswana’s goals to strengthen her economy, including the Economic Diversification Drive and the theme of the National Development Plan (NDP) 10, 2009- 2016 and will conclude in 2016. The purpose of my mission to Botswana was to identify business issues that are critical and assist the beneficiary companies in the elaboration of an action plan in order to improve their procedures in business management, process and product development, marketing, market segmentation as well as access and customer service. As with other sectors, the tourism sector is fraught with challenges that hinder the growth of businesses, but there are also measures that can be taken to ensure that the sector can stay afloat, thrive and grow. The intervention took place in the form of full time fieldwork on the beneficiaries’ premises. Work performed on site consisted of discussions with key personnel as well as review of documentation provided, informal interaction with staff as well as staff training on customer relationship building. The tourism sector is facing multiple challenges relating to finance and operations. The three main challenges of my clients consist of a) financial constraints, b) remote management of operations and c) staff morale resulting in low service levels. A number of beneficiaries experience cash flow constraints because of the current liquidity situation. This sometimes has had an adverse effect on exploiting business opportunities. In certain cases, even small expenses cannot currently be incurred. For a number of clients finances have been an uphill struggle so far. As far as operations are concerned, it is important for lodges and retreats to make use of ICT and be connected to the Internet. This will be to an operational and marketing advantage; electronic records are easier to keep track of, and a connection to and presence on the Internet means that the market for potential visitors widens, and the opportunity for online queries and leads is greater. For a number of companies, in particular start ups, accounting often is a headache, too. There tend to be numerous operational priorities getting in the way such that keeping complete and accurate accounting records often gets neglected. To tackle some of the challenges in the sector, it was recommended that where assets could not be sold to free up cash flow, temporary loans or overdrafts might be a short- term remedy. Where one tour operator had difficulties getting income from guided tours for lack of vehicles, it was recommended that they take out a short- term loan in order to act as a ‘stop- gap’ measure. This would allow them to repair tour vehicles in order to generate more income. The correlation between staff morale and quality of service in the hospitality industry is even more pronounced than elsewhere. Where there are gaps in management and welfare of employees, there is a chance for staff morale to drop to below par, adversely effecting service levels and profitability. It was recommended for one business in particular to close their customer service gap with more engaged management on site (as management currently happens remotely at this particular operation), and make sure that staff remained motivated by introducing incentives. In the absence of necessary funds, the second best option there was to introduce classical management and reporting tools to increase staff productivity. These would include objective setting (weakly task setting), activity reports and a performance related reward system. Those are ways to encourage the improvement of staff morale hence customer service. Staff must be made aware of and need to internalize the need for quality of customer service in the hospitality industry. In particular friendliness and attentiveness are paramount to the long- term success of camps and hotels. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM. Stefan Hartl, M. Sc. is a Managers Without Borders Expert, capacitating businesses through the PSDP.

Innovation is the Key to SMME Improvement

This is the third in a series of articles that will present the work and findings of Botswana and EU service providers. The individual coaching will speak to the specific challenges of individual businesses in response to the aspiration of several of Botswana’s goals to strengthen her economy, including the Economic Diversification Drive and the theme of the National Development Plan (NDP) 10, 2009- 2016 and will conclude in 2016. The SES (Senior Expert Services) is a non-profit organization that offers interested retirees the opportunity to pass on their skills and knowledge to others, both within Germany and abroad. They work in a voluntary capacity as senior experts, helping to train both specialist workers and management staff. They help others to help themselves – an important contribution towards safeguarding a small slice of the future. It is a system that benefits all parties. The CDE-PSDP partnered with SES-Germany to assist some of the program’s 100 beneficiaries. I assisted one such company in Gaborone. This company is well known for manufacturing base sets, mattresses and high-end quality sofas for both local and export markets – including Zambia, Zimbabwe,South Africa and Namibia. The beneficiary requested support in the areas of production planning, marketing/management and design. The three week intervention commenced in April 2015 with a client meeting confirming the support required and to work out a support schedule facilitated by the CDE-PSDP diagnostic report – it identified beneficiary shortcomings, challenges and made respective recommendations. An assessment of the market was made in order to identify potential and associated challenges in the industry, including what kind of designs customers like and why; what kind of quality is accepted; what kind of typical culture-bound aspects are important and what the price pressure points are. With an understanding of the local market, the expert was then able to analyze client’s manufacturing plant and or processes towards recommendations. It was evident that the Botswana market for bed bases and mattresses is a commodity market. Quality is uniform and goods are more or less interchangeable. However, retail information concerning personal health is poor and products are supplied by many different retailers. The market is extremely competitive with low price points and profitability. Thus, any recommendations for optimum production would be effective only for a short time in the current climate. Management was advised to go for another strategy, namely innovation. Innovations are one of the most important tools in business that act to increase market share. If one were to compare successful companies like Apple, Nike, IBM, 3M and Marks & Spencer, they would discover that their success is based on innovations. In my experience, having worked on 30 different projects all over the world; companies are not very familiar with the importance of marketing and innovation strategies. They miss the importance of sales data to be analyzed, competitor knowledge for defining product ranges, the use of ICT to increase efficiency and they are reluctant to make changes. Entrepreneurs often defend themselves under the pretext of a lack of funds, not realizing that a competitor who changes and makes innovations will survive and they will disappear. Even in absence of money for market research, there is a solution by using the Internet. It is a magnificent tool to learn and discover how to make and find simple innovations for their enterprise. Many entrepreneurs think that innovation is based on new technical progress and new discoveries, but any innovation in an organization, its production or products can be innovative. Business owners can then communicate these changes with their customers, demonstrating difference through innovation, using this “plus” as an argument for eventual price changes. Another prominent challenge in many businesses has to do with production space and production planning. Successful companies are expanding their production with better, new machines for growing production capacity. These machines specify the steps used to manufacture a product. This, called ‘routing’, is a defined list of tasks required for making a product. Therefore it is highly recommended that manufacturers analyze the routing; is it still efficient, are the new machines located so as to achieve an optimized production process? In this case, the expert advised a new routing system, increasing workshop space by decreasing the distance between machines, better storage of semi- finished products and minimizing stock of supplied materials. Nevertheless efficient production does not only depend on good routing. Communication in an organization is just as important. It is advisable for every enterprise to have an organization chart, not just describing tasks but also defining the related responsibilities of each employee in the organization in order to visualize the communication channels in the organization. The expert would also mention in this context the importance of corporate identity. It is the overall-image of a business in the minds of the public. All here mentioned issues are a small part of all recommendations made for this company. The next step is for the company to decide the priority of implementation. Each beneficiary is receiving assistance, due to the initiative of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and the partnership of the EU. The PSDP is supported by the Botswana Bureau of Standards, CDE and BOCCIM. Entrepreneurs should realize in this very fast changing world, information is an important tool for knowing how to survive. Planning to make changes demands specific advice, knowledge and support. Beneficiary organizations have access to the best local and international advice and coaching, in order to maximize their chances for growth and success. Failing to plan changes; is planning to fail progress. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM. Mr. Marinus Meijer has 30 years of experience in furniture design and -management and has been advising leading furniture companies in Europe through his Design-Studio in the Netherlands.

Tsodilo Hills, a Future Hub of Cultural Tourism

In the fourth of a series of articles that will present the work and findings of Botswana and EU service providers, the author writes of the potential of cultural tourism in the Tsodilo area. As part of the CDE-PSDP, Dr. Kundri Boehmer-Bauer was the expert engaged in the branding and marketing of the heritage site. The exercise was undertaken in response to the aspiration of several of Botswana’s goals to strengthen her economy, including the Economic Diversification Drive and the theme of the National Development Plan (NDP) 10, 2009- 2016 and will conclude in 2016. Tsodilo Hills, a site with over 4,500 rock paintings in 400 places, is situated in the far North-West of Botswana, in the Okavango Sub-District, about 35 kilometres off the Maun-Shakawe road. Due to its archaeological significance as one of the most important rock art sites in Southern Africa, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. Known as ‘Mountains of the Gods’, ‘Hills of the Ancestors’ and the ‘Louvre of Africa’, the Tsodilo area holds great potential for sustainable tourism and employment opportunities for the inhabitants of the district. The vision of various stakeholders of Tsodilo Hills for the site and its people in 2020 is: “A popular tourism destination inhabited by healthy, educated, and proud residents who thrive on the rich cultural and natural resources of Tsodilo, and guard them well”.

Developing Sustainable Tourism

Much has been done during the past five years in the Tsodilo area. For example, access to the site by road has been upgraded; visitor facilities such as the entrance area and camping grounds have been improved. Now, the PSDP aims to stimulate the economy by building institutional capacities with tourism being one of the sectors earmarked for capacitation. In the near future, the construction of two privately owned lodges is planned, and the local community is to be trained in identifying business opportunities associated with sustainable tourism. The Stories behind Marketing Under the auspices of the PSDP, my task is to act as a ‘translator’ between the social sciences and marketing in order to help with the branding and marketing of Tsodilo as an internationally recognised, high- quality, ‘must see’ for visitors. I worked collaboratively with Programme stakeholders such as the Department of National Museum and Monuments (DNMM), the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO), the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB), and the Tsodilo Community Trust (TCT). To assist the marketing specialists with the branding and world- wide marketing of Tsodilo, the overall objective of my assignment was to conduct desk research and assess the geographical characteristics of the area, as well as the historic rock paintings. Even now, at the beginning of the study, stories connected to the rich heritage and history of Tsodilo abound.

Tsodilo Hills as a Universe

What makes the Tsodilo Hills a vibrant archaeological site is the interaction of different groups from within and outside Botswana with the hills. The Ju/´hoansi and Hambukushu explain the rock art according to the traditions of their forefathers. Even if these were not the artists who painted them, they provided ideas according to their own world- view. Guided by Khuntae Xhao, the village chief of the Ju/´hoansi, I followed several trails. The chief not only explained the meaning of individual and entire panels of rock paintings, but also took me to caves where his ancestors spent the rainy season, and to ‘the place of origin’ – the place where according to the local San and Hambukushu, God sent the animals and plants down to earth. So the Tsodilo Hills are far more than hills housing rock paintings. Tsodilo seems to reflect the whole universe; it is a cosmos of its own in the middle of Southern Africa. A Very Vibrant Archaeological Site For thousands of years, Tsodilo has been of spiritual and cultural significance. The site holds significance for more than the Ju/´hoansi and Hambukushu and their larger communities. Many church groups, for example members of the Z.C.C. from Botswana and abroad, come to Tsodilo to perform prayers and healing ceremonies. For their ceremonies they fetch water from the Python Well near the starting point to Cliff Trail. According to literature and the local people, a large python lives deep inside the well. In many African societies, the Python is connected with rainmaking and fertility. Tsodilo is also important for individual tourists, the bulk of whom drive to Botswana from South Africa, who want to go on a hike and/or see the rock paintings. Domestic tourists include student groups visiting Tsodilo for history lessons in context. In Closing Tsodilo Hills has attracted people for thousands of years and continues to do so. Hiking, admiring rock art, fulfilling religious duties, listening to history lessons, enjoying the landscape, buying necklaces from the Ju/´hoansi and baskets from the Hambukushu, doing research, or just for recreation – there are many good reasons for the young and old, for local, domestic and international tourists to visit Tsodilo. Even if this article can give only a small impression of the cultural richness of the site and its people, it clearly shows that tourism in Botswana is more than just wildlife. With the stories about Tsodilo and the marketing that will happen in the near future, domestic and international tourists will become more aware of the cultural and historical relevance of the site. Making the Tsodilo Hills the focal tourist point in northern Ngamiland will familiarise people from all over the world with an exciting chapter of African history. But even more important is the chance to improve the lives of the people of Tsodilo through sustainable tourism. As Phillip Segadika (2010) wrote: “As it has for millennia, the spiritual, economic, and political life of the Tsodilo Hills may once again be managed of its people, by its people, and for its people.” The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM. Dr. Kundri Boehmer-Bauer is a social anthropologist specialising in African history and in anthropology and tourism. She works as a lecturer at several universities in Germany, as a consultant for the tourism industry, and as an intercultural trainer.

PSDP Upgrading Management Capacity and Best Practices of Beef Farmers

Following the beef value chain analysis and development that was conducted under the framework of PSDP with the assistance of the International Trade Centre (ITC), an action plan was developed and validated by key stakeholders during the Public Private Dialogue meeting held in November 2014 during the global Expo. As part of the CDE-PSDP implementation, Keith Siddorn, a commercial beef farmer in the United Kingdom working for Agri Livestock Consultants was engaged to assist local farmers on management tools for running profitable farm businesses in Botswana. This pilot project focused on 5 commercial farmers in the Ghanzi region chosen according to the set criterion and with the assistance of the PSDP financial institutions Partners. Profitability within the beef sector is currently low, and performance compares unfavourably with many of the international beef- producing competitors. Hence, a number of key areas under the beef industry were highlighted as those that need immediate attention, including the management and organisational practices on the farm which looked at breeding, feeding, identification and traceability, finance and accounting methods and general livestock record keeping. The needs assessment conducted on the 5 farmers highlighted a number of key obstacles. One of the key issues is that majority Batswana farmers are part time, which makes it difficult for them to have ownership over the day- to- day running of their farms. Also, some of these challenges include the unfavourable logistics of traveling to the farms; the current drought posing a significant issue in the winter months and the most imminent threats are posed by Foot and Mouth Disease from the neighbouring Maun District as well as lack of supply of borehole water, skilled labour, and efficient transport infrastructure. “In addition to these issues is then the most pressing one: how and where we market the final product because it is the highest quality beef I have seen in a long time,” said Siddorn. Botswana beef is one of the preeminent in the world because of various factors including the excellent quality of the breeding stock, the extensive and natural nature of the grazing system and lack of any veterinary products in the production system. With Keith Siddorn’s expertise, the farmers underwent training where they were taken through fundamental aspects such as where the beef sector is in Botswana in relation to the rest of the world, the importance of record keeping and as well as being sensitised on how to effectively run their business in order to yield positive returns. Sensitisation was also conducted on the signing of the SADC-EPA Agreement.

PSDP Upgrading Management Capacity and Best Practices of Beef Farmers (CON'T)

The farmers appreciated the assistance provided, particularly the fact that they were getting assistance from a farmer who is hands- on and has extensive knowledge about farming, although the situation might be different in the UK. One of the issues that were identified as needing to be improved upon was the lack of detailed information within the beef industry. For instance, there are very few official industry figures available for the average beef farmer to use in making informed decisions regarding how to move their business forward. In the UK, figures are published on a monthly basis regarding average weights, prices, imports, exports and consumer buying patterns that the Ministry of Agriculture needs to consider. Be spoke action plans were developed for each farmer to implement, which will ultimately assist them to improve the processes on their farms. A follow up will be done to assess the implementation and the impact of the assistance in their production practices and ultimately in the growth of the business. It is foreseen that some time in the coming months, three selected farmers will take part in a study tour in the UK on beef production. This will further assist them with their own farming practice, with the vision that they will impart their knowledge to their counterparts. It should be noted that this is a pilot project that has the possibility of being replicated in other regions if the model used is successful. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM.

Enhancing the capacity of SME’s from Public Works on Procurement

The construction and public works sectors have some challenges with getting projects started and finished on time and complying with budget constraints and quality standards. Often, the responsibility for failing to meet these challenges lies across the spectrum of stakeholders, including clients, consultants and contractors, as a combination of factors allow projects to derail from the track of control. One of the determining factors that causes projects to derail is that tenders are awarded with incomplete project design and documentation. Another challenge is the skills gap amongst Public Works service providers. Lastly, contractors are often selected to carry out projects without proper assessment of their history and ability to perform. In the projects that are falling into delay and other problems, often, the information with regard to planning and tracking is missing. This is vital for enabling the stakeholders to monitor the construction phases vis-a-vis their constraints. There are often gaps with projects that contribute to delays, including unclear and incomplete project scope, incomplete documentation, inadequate project planning and skills gaps with consultants and contractors. We found that local contractors are highly qualified academically, but lack the experience to match their qualifications. Our construction sector is simply affected by the fact that Botswana is a young, growing nation. Productivity, determination, and the ability to perform require the discipline and time management that comes with the clear knowledge of what one has to achieve. 18 selected contractors where assessed in order to define their capacity building needs and expectations in terms of amelioration of their performance. It emerged almost unanimously that the contractors needed to learn how to tender in an open market scenario, in competition with market players, as this is often the way to procure work. In addition, they wanted to learn how to plan for a project, how to produce a tracking plan and how to elaborate a business plan in order to mobilize funding for their investments.

Enhancing the capacity of SME’s from Public Works on Procurement(CON'T)

The construction and public works sector could also benefit from new technologies for better management of their projects and operations. The training workshop organised by the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) focused on “first principles”, including project and risk management, cash book skills, tendering and estimating, human resources management and information management. Moreover, the training in particular addressed construction management challenges and solutions, IT and computer technology development, collection of technical and economical data of a project and environmental health and safety issues. The participants were also capacitated on assessment of the site of the project, financial aspects (costing, cashflow, structure of the tender price and breakdown) and finally on the preparation of procurement documents. After the course, participants wrote an exam in accordance with BQA requirements in order to obtain a certificate of competency in the subjects covered by the course. This seminar provided appropriate tools and capacity for SMEs to be better intregrated into the public works market, with the view to address real challenges that arise from skills shortages. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM.

Enhancing the capacity of SME’s from Public Works on Procurement

Historically, in Botswana, we have some challenges with getting projects started and finished on time; complying with budget constraints and quality standards. Often, the responsibility for failing to meet these challenges lies across the spectrum of stakeholders, including clients, consultants, and contractors, as a combination of factors that allows projects to derail from the track of control. One of the determining factors that causes projects to derail is that tenders are awarded with incomplete project design and documentation. Another challenge is the skills gap amongst Public Works service providers Lastly, contractors are often selected to carry out projects without proper assessment of their history and ability to perform. In the projects that are falling into delay and other problems, often, the information with regard to planning and tracking is missing. This is vital for enabling the stakeholders to monitor the construction phases vis-a-vis their constraints. There are often gaps with projects that contribute to delays, including unclear project scope; incomplete project scope, incomplete documentatio, inadequate project planning and skills gaps with consultants and contractors. We found that local contractors are highly qualified academically, but lack the experience to match their qualifications. Our construction sector is simply affected by the fact that Botswana is a young, growing nation. Productivity, determination, and the ability to perform require the discipline and time management that comes with the clear knowledge of what one has to achieve. 18 selected contractors where visited individually to established their needs and expectations in order to design workshop content that would speak to their specific needs. It emerged almost unanimously that the contractors needed to learn how to tender in an open market scenario, in competition with market players, as this is often the way to procure work. In addition, they would benefit from learning how to plan for a project, how to produce a tracking plan, how to create a business plan to succeed at raising funds. Our sector could also benefit from interacting with information management and computer technology- not in order to rely fully on them, but to use them as tools to perform more efficiently. Participants were also capacitated with ways to improve performance, human resources management and how to learn navigate risk assessment and management. Keeping in mind that the majority of SMMEs contractors have limited knowledge of technology, the training workshop organised by PSDP focused on “first principles”, including how to draft a business plan, risk management, cash book skills, project management, tendering and estimating, human resources management and information management. 18 contractors participated in the training workshop, at the end of which they wrote an exam in accordance with BQA requirements for them to obtain a certificate of competency in the subjects covered by the course. .The training in particular addressed construction management challenges and solutions; management skills, IT and computer technology development, collection of technical and economical data of a project, environmental health and safety issues. The participants were also capacitated on assessment of the site of the project, on financial aspects (costing, cashflow , structure of the tender price and breakdown) and finally on the preparation of procurement documents. This seminar provided appropriate tools and capacity for SMEs to be better intregrated in the public works market. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM.

Partnership Strengthened Between Business Botswana and European Chambers

Keolepile Motshusi, Membership Management Officer at Business Botswana recently participated in a capacitation exercise at the Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce. Motshusi’s mission was focused on awareness- raising, advisory and training activities towards new entrepreneurs and to be able to re-transfer newly- obtained know- how among Business Botswana employees. This was done in line with the rebranding and transformation of Business Botswana into an apex body for the private sector as part of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP). As part of her assignment, she benchmarked programmes and processes in line with the Belgian Chambers, which has 13 permanent members including 33 bilateral businesses. During her assignment, she was able to gain insight into the Chamber’s accreditation procedures, requirements and quality control through its accreditation programme. “Local chambers of commerce in Belgium are only accredited after completing a thorough process in which their commercial and financial viability is verified. Secondly, they are required to offer a wide range of services concerning lobbying, internationalization, advice, guidance, training and networking. Finally, they need to fulfill the necessary requirements regarding modern and professional management and delivery of high-quality services,” Motshusi said. She continued to say that accreditation of Chambers, as Business Botswana has transitioned into an apex body, should begin as soon as possible. This is in order to curb the mushrooming of associations who often do not qualify to be called associations. Other learnings included the structure of Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce management programmes. The Associations committee members are trained on corporate governance for the Boards to be able to distinguish between their duties and that of the staff (clear roles). They are also helped to be able to choose between offering more services than benefits, the more services offered by associations, the more the members. As members will only buy the services, it is always advisable to keep them at par, and offer specialized services that are only offered by associations. The pricing should also be linked to membership to encourage non-members to join so that they benefit from registration with the organization. “Local chambers of commerce in Belgium are only accredited after completing a thorough process in which their commercial and financial viability is verified,” Motshusi emphasized.

Partnership Strengthened Between Business Botswana and European Chambers(CON'T)

Like Business Botswana, the Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce activities include lobbying, internationalization, advice, guidance, training and networking. Motshusi was able to glean knowledge and expertise insofar as it relates to Business Botswana’s organizational transformation, and formulated a series of recommendations pertaining to the transformation. Business Botswana, which recently joined the World Chamber Trust, will also consider registering with other bodies such as the World Chambers Federation in order to be recognized in other countries. Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce has specific initiatives that it implements, including programmes that are aligned with education, mobility, employment creation and going green. Since the Government has been engaging with Business Botswana on how to improve youth unemployment this is the opportunity for Business Botswana to solicit funds from Government and embark on education and employment creation projects. These projects could be of real benefit to Business Botswana members and at the same time helping with the high rate of Youth unemployment in Botswana. Motshusi noted how Business Botswana could negotiate with Government to use the Training Levy to come up with an education project. Business Botswana can consider partnering with large companies to address the skills deficit in the market, in a similar vein as the Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce programme. Motshusi further explained the process: “The chamber has come up with a project where companies sign an agreement to help students by giving them technical training skills (attaching students in their companies). The chamber sourced the funds from the Government to help train the students while they are still studying for them to gain experience… The company dedicates a mentor to this student who will be with them for the entire period of their attachment.” Another beneficial change would be to update the internal and external communications processes within Business Botswana, making sure that there is enough capacity to keep the database updated and members informed of important issues. It will also be beneficial to offer free, value- add services to members. “Intensive Negotiations with organizations such as LEA, CEDA and HRDC to partner with Business Botswana for sustainability and growth of entrepreneurship in Botswana should be embarked on,” Motshusi said.

Botswana Stakeholders Look Forward to Private Sector Transformation

The private sector is set to thrive through the intervention of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) which is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The goals of the Programme are to strengthen the value chain of SMMEs and community based organisations (CBOs); promote SMME participation in procurement; enhance the service delivery of Intermediary Organisations (IOs); improve access to financing for SMMEs and empower women entrepreneurs. The Head of Cooperation for the EU Delegation to Botswana and SADC, indicated that “The PSDP is key to the growth of Botswana’s economy and arrives at a good time for the private sector under the Economic Diversification Drive.” On the importance of a strong private sector, Chief Commercial Officer of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Gideon Mmolawa, said, “Competitive local enterprises will ensure their reinforced participation in the economy, creating jobs, wealth, reducing poverty and contributing towards Government’s long- term objective of diversifying the economy”. The PSDP is implemented by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) in collaboration with Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM). CEO of BOCCIM, Maria- Machailo- Ellis, said, “We want to see SMMEs that deliver on their business objectives; that are competitive, access markets outside the country and have the quality and high standards of products and services which will enable them to play in the wider world economy.” Participating SMMEs are from a range of sectors, including manufacturing, tourism and agri- business, taking the entire value chain into consideration. Chief Economist at the MFDP, Kgangmotse Kgangmotse, commended the Programme, saying, “The PSDP will eventually reduce the number of imports and possibly increase exports, thus deploying a good net export balance. It is our desire to see SMMEs become large enterprises, which will also help the private sector in Botswana to grow. The economy should not be heavily dependent on Government but rather be private sector led.” The programme has to date, selected 100 SMMEs including CBOs to be empowered on how to efficiently run their businesses. As a start-up, the programme trained local IOs such as BNPC, CEDA, BOCCIM, BITC, LEA, BIH, and local consultancy firms on diagnosis of SMMEs using the CDE audit tools. Furthermore, the respective IOs were involved in conducting audits of the selected 100 companies. The audits identified gaps in the businesses, which will be alleviated with individual coaching and sector- specific mentorship. For his part, the Head of CDE Regional Office for Southern Africa, Sid Boubekeur noted that “Due to the excellent collaboration between the public and private sector, the PSDP Botswana progresses in a favourable environment. I would like to express my gratitude to the MTI, EU Delegation, BOCCIM and MFDP for the support they provided during the preparation and start-up of the Private Sector Development Programme”. The Programme was developed in response to the Public Sector Development Strategy (PSDS) that was initiated by BOCCIM with the help of the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2008. The programme responds to the aspiration of several of Botswana’s goals to strengthen her economy, including the Economic Diversification Drive and the theme of the National Development Plan (NDP) 10, 2009- 2016 and will conclude in 2016. Notes to the Editors Background of the Private Sector Development Programme The PSDP was launched in May 2013 to provide a systematic and coherent framework to promote the development and growth of the private sector. It has identified milestones, bottlenecks and interventions that will contribute towards establishing an enabling environment that will spur entrepreneurial development; attract foreign and domestic private investment and simultaneously create business opportunities. The PSDP responds to the aspiration of Vision 2016 and the theme of the National Development Plan (NDP) 10, 2009- 2016. It is an initiative of the Government of Botswana represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) and Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM). The programme will run for 3 (three) years and has a budget of €2.3 million. PSDP Partner Entity Profiles The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) is the supervising agency of the PSDP. The MTI’s mandate is to provide a conducive environment for growing the economy and creating wealth through investment, industrialization, economic diversification and trade. Through the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD), MTI strives for diversification of the economy through the development of globally competitive enterprises. The EDD envisages development of globally competitive enterprises that need little or no Government support. (http://www.mti.gov.bw/home) The European Union (EU) is the contracting authority of the PDSP. The EU is an economic and political partnership between 28 European countries that together cover much of the continent. The EU aims to promote the competitiveness of industry and businesses and enhance job creation and economic growth by creating a business-friendly environment, particularly for small businesses and the manufacturing industry, all over the world. Special attention is given to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Supporting SMEs and promoting entrepreneurship is the key to economic diversity. (http://europa.eu/index_en.htm) The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) sits on the PSDP Management Committee. The overall mandate of the MFDP is to coordinate national development planning, mobilise and prudently manage available financial and economic resources. Further to that the Ministry is responsible for the formulation of economic and financial policies for sustainable economic development. (http://www.finance.gov.bw/index.php ) The Centre of the Development of Enterprise (CDE) is the executing agency of the PSDP. CDE is a joint institution of the African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU), within the framework of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement. Its mandate is to support the development of the ACP private sector. CDE provides non-financial services (consultancy, technical assistance, studies, training) to ACP companies, especially SMEs and intermediary organisations (chambers of commerce, professional associations, business services providers, etc.), and to joint initiatives of ACP and EU economic operators. (http://www.cde.int/en) The Botswana Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Manpower is the internal monitoring body of the PSDP. BOCCIM is a Business Association of Employers representing employers in all sectors of the Botswana economy in an advocacy capacity. BOCCIM has been the vanguard and main voice of the private sector in Botswana. The organisation has protected the economic interests of the business community and through its philosophy of constructive policy dialogue, BOCCIM has won the confidence and respect of Government and other stakeholders in Botswana. (http://www.boccim.co.bw/index.php) --- Ends

Local Businesses Benefit from Bespoke Capacity- Building

Sid Boubekeur Head of Regional Office for Southern Africa Centre for the Development of Enterprise The Private Sector Development Programme is well under way with the diagnostic audit of 100 local SMMEs. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM. The Programme is capacitating the local private sector with the intention to stimulate and sustain growth and facilitating ease of doing business in Botswana. Selected business owners and managers want to take their businesses to the ‘next level’, each receiving the benefit of the diagnosis, bespoke mentoring and capacitation in the areas of their businesses that need the most attention. Several partner entities were involved in the diagnosis of the beneficiary businesses, including the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC) and Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH). In general, it was found that even though the specific needs of the SMMEs were peculiar to them, there were several challenges that cut across the different businesses, including access to finance, aligning their missions and visions with specific growth strategies and in some cases, human resources management challenges. BNPC was assigned the larger SMMEs that were accepted into the PSDP. The diagnostic audit revealed that the transition of local companies to becoming innovative global players in the region and in the international arena has to begin at the core of the business itself, from the people operating it. Enterprise Support and Marketing Manager at BNPC, Matlho Kgosi noted that BNPC recommended having marketing plans in place, growth projections, understanding whether they are hitting their targets, and if not, how they would remedy the situation. Some of the businesses that were audited had a lot of systems in place, including quality control, HR and sales management systems, but these tended to be disconnected from each other. BNPC also recommended that before their businesses could grow any further, they needed to consolidate those systems and have them ‘talk’ to each other. BIH was appointed to participate in the PSDP SMME Diagnostic Audit focusing primarily on the ICT companies participating in the Programme. It became evident that majority of the ICT based SMME companies in Botswana are following the same business model, which is reliant on the Government tendering system. Tshepo Tsheko, Programme Manager at the BIH First Steps Venture Centre noted that a change in mind-set is required from “how things have always been done” to cultivate a corporate culture for innovation where performance is gauged by contribution and implementation of innovative ideas and processes. LEA identified 11 micro businesses out of the selected SMME beneficiaries to audit. From their preliminary report, three challenges which hinder growth amongst these SMMEs included difficulties with book- keeping, stock taking and pricing and compliance issues (failure to file tax returns). ***Capacity- building with SES Germany Managers Without Borders inserted here The PSDP is larger than the audits. It takes a holistic approach to engaging and improving the growth of businesses, getting through to the core of what the businesses need. The Programme is helping businesses to make a difference to their bottom line, which will have an exponential effect on the economy of Botswana, in line with the Economic Diversification Drive.

PSDP implemented energy efficiency management model for SMEs

In his article about the process of capacitating the local private sector, the Head of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), Sid Boubekeur, mentioned that the specific coaching of SMMEs targets a range of advanced business aspects including increasing productivity and environmental awareness in the interests of streamlining their use of energy for the success of their enterprises. Botswana is one of the countries in Southern Africa experiencing electricity shortages with a negative impact on its economic development. The country’s proportion of imported electricity from the region has gone down during the past few years, placing pressure on local power generation. Therefore, the Government is contemplating the development of renewable energy technologies as well as implementing energy efficiency and conservation (clean energy) as one of the most promising options to meet the domestic demand. In order to raise awareness on clean energy, the PSDP provided technical assistance to eight (8) selected Small, Medium & Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs). The main objectives of the technical assistance were to raise awareness on energy management among the six established enterprises and to assist in business planning and mentoring of the two start-up enterprises. The benefits to the 8 selected enterprises for participating in the PSDP were; capacity building on energy and environmental management, detailed plant assessments in order to identify energy saving opportunities, an economic appraisal of the identified energy efficiency measures, development of action plans for implementation of energy efficiency measures as well as identifying financial institutions that support new business ventures and energy projects. The six established enterprises were assisted with plant assessments to identify the issues on site and determine opportunities for improvement. Among the issues identified were a low level of awareness on energy management among employees and good housekeeping practices; poor understanding of how electricity (demand and consumption) is charged by the power utility, challenges in the service and maintenance of production equipment and unnecessary energy consumption due to machines that are left idling when there is no production, amongst other challenges. The two start-up enterprises were assisted with business planning and mentoring. Among the issues identified at the start-up enterprises included the lack of skills in business planning and management, bookkeeping, budgeting, cash flow management and investment analysis and challenges with the access to finance. Some successes have already been achieved among the participating enterprises. So far, five of the established enterprises have implemented some of the recommended low cost energy efficiency measures using their own resources. These energy efficiency measures include training on energy management, behavioural change, monitoring of electricity consumption, replacing existing inefficient lights with more energy efficient lights, installing translucent roof sheets and painting of factory walls to improve lighting levels, and implementing maintenance schedules of equipment in the factory. The enterprises have also started addressing occupational health and safety issues including improving on ventilation and implementing good housekeeping practices. One of the established enterprises has started mobilising financial resources for the complete upgrade of its production facilities to improve on production efficiency and reduce environmental impacts. The two start-up enterprises were assisted with business planning and mentoring. At the beginning of the project, the enterprise that is involved in supplying LED lights did not have a proper sales office but now it has a fully-fledged office to display and market its products. The enterprise is facing challenges in accessing cheap finance to establish a manufacturing facility for LED lights. The enterprise that is involved in waste management was also not operational at the beginning of the project but now it is operating from rented premises and has purchased basic equipment for waste collection and recycling. The company is seeking finance to expand its operations. PSDP will continue following the progress of the established enterprises in implementing energy efficiency measures and provide further training where required. On the issue of access to finance by start-ups, PSDP will assist in identifying suitable financial institutions and linking them with the enterprises. The enterprises will have to engage with these financial institutions in order to meet the financing requirements. To raise awareness on energy management among SMMEs, the PSDP conducted an awareness training workshop for 19 enterprises. The workshop focused on the basic principles of energy management, methodology for energy auditing, case studies on energy efficiency measures including LED lighting and demonstrations on how energy can be saved in various operational systems of the business environment. Gauging from the positive evaluation of this workshop, the PSDP is recommended to conduct more workshop to raise awareness on energy management among SMMEs. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM. Hazvenei Mujoma is the PSDP expert on Energy Efficiency Management for Entreprises

The Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) will transform the private sector

The private sector development programme (PSDP) was developed in response to the private sector Development strategy (PSDS) that was initiated by BOCCIM with the help of the commonwealth secretariat in the year 2008. the PSDP programme responds to the aspirations of Botswana's goals to the aspiration of Botswana's goals to strengthen the economy including the economic Diversification Drive and the National Development plan (NDP) 10 2009-2016. The PSDP is part of the empowerment of Non state Actors programme agreed and signed between the EU and ministry of finance and development (MFDP) on behalf of the government of Botswana of Botswana.the programme was developed in partnership with MTI, EU, and CDE in response to the BOCCIM initiated Private sector Development Strategy (PSDP). PSDP is expected to capacitate SMMEs and CBOs by strengthening their value chains, improving access to finance and the ease of doing business as well as enhancing women's entrepreneurship. the programme has a strong link to the PSDP and the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) strategy which is a Government initiative to enhance local production and consumption. this project will come to an end in the year 2016. as the BOCCIM president i am very happy with the progress of the PSDP so far, in that it has addressed issues espoused by the PSDP and i am confident that we will meet the target date of 2016. PSDP includes support to BOCCIM to become the leading voice of the private sector in Botswana through a restructuring process of forming it into an Apex body. all the forming it into an Apex body. all the constituencies that have a key role to play in private sector development partners, participated in the process. in order to enhance the development needs of the peoples of Botswana, the strategy borrows heavily from vision 2016 and the National Development plan, 2003-2008. realizing that the small, micro and medium Enterprises are the bedrock of private sector development in botswana thwe strategy is aligned to the policy on medium and micro enterprises. in addition the strategy builds on the gains made in establishing and enabling environment for the sake of developing private sector. this strategic move by BOCCIM to migrate the organisation into an apex body is to broaden its mandate to represent the entire private sector and offer better coordination of the advocacy and lobbying requirements of business in Botswana. BOCCIM's role is to also build the capacity of sector organisations to deliver on their mandate. for the sustainability of BOCCIM, there was need to develop innovative services with the view to decrease dependency on subscription fees, services around entrepreneurship, international trade ICT development, business intelligence and networking, vocational training as well as medication and arbitration were seen as possible avenues to pursue.

Evaluation of the private sector development programme 12 November 2015

initial evaluation for completed activities were carried out in all three result areas. under result area 1 SMEs were interviewed in the clothing, science and technology and services sectors. and result area 2 are service providers who undertook the diagnostics of selected SMEs were interviewed. with respect to result area 3 a number of intermediary organisations were also evaluated. while this gave a preliminary picture of the achievement of the programme it is important to note that the evaluation are on going. broadly speaking the interviews revealed the following greater satisfaction with the PSDP intervention from all result areas.SMMES beneficiaries lauded the fact that there was an increase in production, revenue and employment.this also increase the prospect of investor confidence. however there were a number of recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of the programme delivery. -there should be a clear lines of responsibility for implementation and such implementation should form part of each activity -policy issues should be pushed by Business Botswana , we should have more contact with Ministry of Trade and industry. -there should be a consideration given to the use of information technology so as to transcend the accessibility of SMMES by service providers. the time taken between audits and actual interventions was considered too long by the SMMES beneficiaries.as well, related to this the SMMEs felt the time spent on interventions was too short. -It was also found that the PSDP programme could benefit from broader marketing strategies employed through the use of radio and other newspapers. In the final analysis these initial evaluation attempts point to the programme taking on a positive trajectory.

Business Botswana to honour Machailo-Ellis

Business Botswana says it will use the upcoming gala dinner billed for November 20 as a platform to recognise and appreciate the outgoing Business Botswana's CEO Maria Machailo Ellis for her immense contribution to the competitiveness, growth and wealth of the private sector during her tenure. formally known as the business Botswana confederation of commerce, industry and manpower (BOCCIM), Business Botswana is well ahead in preparations for the dinner. According to head of Public Affairs, Marketing and communications Shiellah Moribame, Machailo Ellis through her new roles will still work with Business Botswana through the ILO Programme of technical cooperation ACT/EMP which seeks to strengthen business representative and increase their value to their members and potential members. She mentioned that her work also enhances social dialogue in the countries concerned. she revealed that the dinner is expected to host distinguished business leaders and top level dignitaries from the private and public sector. Moribame highlighted that the dinner is recognized as a business networking event for business members and the business community at large serving as a platform for sharing ideas on how best to stimulate techniques, devising of strategies for competitive advantage and potential opportunities to reflect on its performance, with regards to achieve economic growth and diversification. The dinner will be held under the theme "Leading the private sector to a sustainable and innovative economy". At the dinner, the second motswana to lead the First National bank of Botswana (FNBB) as its Chief Executive Officer Stephen Bogatsu, will have the opportunity to engage with business community. "This year's theme is very relevant as it points directly to how the private sector can sharpen its role in economic growth and national prosperity, we encourage citizen entrepreneurs, to create highly competitive export oriented ventures based on innovation and this dinner aims at enhancing our objective of promoting networking platforms for our business community locally and regionally to achieve investment growth, "Moribame said She said Bogatsu is ha seasoned leader with a vast experience having previously worked as the CEO of fnbb WHERE he held positions of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Director of Product Houses responsible for property finance, Wesbank and credit card among others. Bogatsu is said to have brought a lot of wealth on banking experience to FNBB having held several leadership positions here and abroad. Business Botswana couldn't have selected any other better person, as during his stay in Swaziland, the bank affirmed its position as number one in terms of profits, won several awards including the London based Banker's Bank of the year award 2014. he has been working very hard and will also be responsible for developing, communicating and aligning FNBB'S business deliverables while managing the bank Moribame added.

BOCCIM rebrands, becomes Business Botswana

The Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) last week embarked on a re-naming and re-branding exercise that will herald in a new name and logo, as part of its on-going restructuring exercise, which will culminate in the organization morphing into an Apex body. A BOCCIM Special General Meeting (SGM) on Wednesday approved the proposed name change to Business Botswana, after being presented with an option of another name, Botswana Chambers of Commerce. Briefing the media on the latest developments, BOCCIM Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Maria Machailo-Ellis said the change of name and logo will ensure brand reinforcement and help the organization keep up with emerging business processes. On the other hand, she said, the re-branding will create a long term impression that will complement the organization’s new business model and the new services that it will offer to members. “The name BOCCIM carried a lot of baggage because a lot has happened in the past. The BOCCIM logo was designed in the 70`s when the organization was formed as an employers’ federation. We needed a fresh start,” said Machailo-Ellis. She further said there was a need to modernize the name and logo so that it speaks to today’s business clientele. The re-branding was also meant to create a fresh identity that clearly communicates the value of BOCCIM as it transitions to the Apex model. BOCCIM members and the general public were informed, engaged and educated about the re-branding process through various media platforms. “The trend around the world is that business associations are aligning themselves to the mandate of business. There is more focus on competitiveness and we have re-branded and changed our name to reflect increased focus on business,” she said. However, Machailo- Ellis said the role of BOCCIM as an employer organization still remains and need to be embraced. BOCCIM will soon launch a competition for the design and drawing of its new logo. The competition will attract P10, 000 in prize money. Machailo- Ellis explained that the new logo should be attractive and leave a lasting impression, have a unique look, reflect the personality of BOCCIM and also be stylish and elegant. BOCCIM’s new brand will be rolled out through a well-publicized event that will be attended by relevant stakeholders and the media, followed by a series of road shows around the country to introduce the new brand and the new Apex model to the business community. For his part, BOCCIM President Lekwalo Mosienyane said aligning with the Apex model does not mean that the organisation will shed off its previous roles. Rather, he said, it will further broaden BOCCIM’s mandate so that it represents the entire private sector and offer better services to its members, while ensuring better coordination of the advocacy and lobbying requirements of business in Botswana. “The development of the restructuring framework has been a long journey. We started in April 2014 with the assistance of the Belgian and Paris Chambers of Commerce,” said Mosienyane. The process entailed consultation with various stakeholders and private sector associations, who all made it very clear that an Apex organisation was not only overdue but also necessary to consolidate the voice of business in Botswana. “It was on that basis that as BOCCIM we took the initiative to set in motion the various processes that will facilitate restructuring,” he said.

Rre Moleele on Botswana PSDP Monitoring and Evaluation at IMA UK Please select and Go to URL below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtvJtE5c5jMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtvJtE5c5jM

POVERTY ERADICATION through Private Sector, NGOs & Civil Society Participation

Dear member, The government of Botswana has approached BOCCIM with a request for technical support to eradicate poverty. Members are encouraged to lend a hand in their various area of expertise by contacting the following ministries for partnerships: - Ministry of Trade & Industry: For micro & small scale entrepreneurship development and related job creating opportunities for the poor. - Ministry of Agriculture: For household food insecurity and micro agribusiness development. - Ministry of Minerals, Energy & Water Resources: For household Energy & water development for the poor and the vulnerable. - Ministry of Environment, Wildlife & Tourism: For sustainable utilisation of natural resources for poverty eradication. - Ministry of Local Government & Rural development: For social protection ( feeding the poor. Clothing the poor & Housing the poor) & community development ( psycho-social & career guidance and counselling and Micro business development) -Ministry of Youth Sports & Culture: For culture & talent development & management for poverty eradication. - Ministry of Education & Skills Development: For general capacity building; poverty eradication projects curricula development & eradication and for monitoring the effectiveness of poverty eradication projects curricula Find attached poverty eradication participation proposal. For more information contact, Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Public Administration office on 395-0800.

European Union Chambers of Commerce and BOCCIM Partnership

The Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) provides support to BOCCIM so that it will become the leading voice of the private sector in Botswana. The strategic move by BOCCIM to being an Apex body should be viewed as a further broadening of its mandate to represent the private sector and offer better services to its members, while ensuring that there is better coordination of the advocacy and lobbying requirements of business in Botswana. Mr. Wouter Van Gulck, General Manager, (Federation of Belgian Chambers of Commerce) and Mr. Georges Fischer, (Director of International Networks and Partnerships, Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry), conducted a mission between the 27 March and 3rd April 2014. This was done with the view to design an action plan to structure BOCCIM as an Apex body to coordinate the private sector in Botswana. Another mission was conducted between the 6th and 9th May 2014, wherein the consultant presented the findings of the initial research. During the first mission, the consultants met public and private sector stakeholders, including BOCCIM management, BOCCIM Council, Sector associations, Ministry of Trade and Industry, EU Delegation and CDE Regional Office for Southern Africa, to discuss BOCCIM’s current status and expectations towards the Apex body development. The intention was to gather data to facilitate the development of a working programme towards building BOCCIM into an Apex body and prepare a concrete set of recommendations to be presented in a validation workshop that took place on the 8th May 2014. On the second mission, the consultant presented a final report in a workshop which took into consideration the comments, ideas, suggestions and inputs made by stakeholders during the first mission. The purpose of this mission was to get approval from the stakeholders on the proposed program of action. Some of the elements of the proposal to establish a framework for the Apex body include reviewing the capacity of BOCCIM to enable it to assume its new role, and to build the capacity of sector organizations to deliver on their mandates. The need to align advocacy initiatives with BOCCIM and sector associations was also seen as essential and this should be reinforced by improved communications. For the sustainability of BOCCIM, there was need to develop innovative services with the view to decrease dependency on subscription fees. Services around entrepreneurship, international trade, ICT development, business intelligence and networking, vocational training as well as mediation and arbitration were seen as possible avenues to pursue. Delegating some of the services that are normally delivered by government to BOCCIM would enhance the public-private partnership between both parties. The report also recommends providing coaching assistance to BOCCIM over two years through information exchange and staff training, simultaneously implementing the new structure in order to deliver sustainable services. Following the interaction, the workshop approved the proposed program of action for establishment of BOCCIM as an Apex Body. The workshop agreed that the BOCCIM Secretariat and the Consultants should immediately start the process of implementing the action program with the aim of achieving Apex body status within 2 years. “We are quite excited at both the turnout and the result of this workshop, as it demonstrates the goodwill that exists within BOCCIM and within the greater public sector. It is quite a milestone for the delegates who have put a collective seal of approval on the Strategy and its recommendations, and with its implementation starts the hard work. I do believe that turning BOCCIM into an apex body will make it more efficient and allow us to lobby for greater industry roles and national portfolios. This will yield better results for our private sector and subsequently for the economy of Botswana,” concluded BOCCIM President, Mr. Mosienyane. The Private Sector Development Programme is a Government of Botswana initiative supported by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, European Union, the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM

PSDP Partner Entity Profiles PSDP 23rd September 2015

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) is the supervising agency of the PSDP. The MTI’s mandate is to provide a conducive environment for growing the economy and creating wealth through investment, industrialization, economic diversification and trade. Through the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD), MTI strives for diversification of the economy through the development of globally competitive enterprises. The EDD envisages development of globally competitive enterprises that need little or no Government support. (http://www.mti.gov.bw/home) The European Union (EU) is the contracting authority of the PDSP. The EU is an economic and political partnership between 28 European countries that together cover much of the continent. The EU aims to promote the competitiveness of industry and businesses and enhance job creation and economic growth by creating a business-friendly environment, particularly for small businesses and the manufacturing industry, all over the world. Special attention is given to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Supporting SMEs and promoting entrepreneurship is the key to economic diversity. (http://europa.eu/index_en.htm) The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP) sits on the PSDP Management Committee. The overall mandate of the MFDP is to coordinate national development planning, mobilise and prudently manage available financial and economic resources. Further to that the Ministry is responsible for the formulation of economic and financial policies for sustainable economic development. (http://www.finance.gov.bw/index.php ) The Centre of the Development of Enterprise (CDE) is the executing agency of the PSDP. CDE is a joint institution of the African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU), within the framework of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement. Its mandate is to support the development of the ACP private sector. CDE provides non-financial services (consultancy, technical assistance, studies, training) to ACP companies, especially SMEs and intermediary organisations (chambers of commerce, professional associations, business services providers, etc.), and to joint initiatives of ACP and EU economic operators. (http://www.cde.int/en) The Botswana Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Manpower is the internal monitoring body of the PSDP. BOCCIM is a Business Association of Employers representing employers in all sectors of the Botswana economy in an advocacy capacity. BOCCIM has been the vanguard and main voice of the private sector in Botswana. The organisation has protected the economic interests of the business community and through its philosophy of constructive policy dialogue, BOCCIM has won the confidence and respect of Government and other stakeholders in Botswana. (http://www.boccim.co.bw/index.php)

Local Businesses Benefit from Bespoke Capacity- Building 12th April 2015

Sid Boubekeur Head of Regional Office for Southern Africa Centre for the Development of Enterprise The Private Sector Development Programme is well under way with the diagnostic audit of 100 local SMMEs. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM. The Programme is capacitating the local private sector with the intention to stimulate and sustain growth and facilitating ease of doing business in Botswana. Selected business owners and managers want to take their businesses to the ‘next level’, each receiving the benefit of the diagnosis, bespoke mentoring and capacitation in the areas of their businesses that need the most attention. Several partner entities were involved in the diagnosis of the beneficiary businesses, including the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA), Botswana National Productivity Centre(BNPC) and Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH). In general, it was found that even though the specific needs of the SMMEs were peculiar to them, there were several challenges that cut across the different businesses, including access to finance, aligning their missions and visions with specific growth strategies and in some cases, human resources management challenges. BNPC was assigned the larger SMMEs that were accepted into the PSDP.The diagnostic audit revealed that the transition of local companies to becoming innovative global players in the region and in the international arena has to begin at the core of the business itself, from the people operating it. Enterprise Support and Marketing Manager at BNPC, Matlho Kgosi noted that BNPCrecommended having marketing plans in place, growth projections, understanding whether they are hitting their targets, and if not, how they would remedy the situation. Some of the businesses that were audited had a lot of systems in place, including quality control, HR and sales management systems, but these tended to be disconnected from each other. BNPC also recommended that before their businesses could grow any further, they needed to consolidate those systems and have them ‘talk’ to each other. BIH was appointed to participate in the PSDP SMME Diagnostic Audit focusing primarily on the ICT companies participating in the Programme.It became evident that majority of the ICT based SMME companies in Botswana are following the same business model, which is reliant on the Government tendering system. Tshepo Tsheko, Programme Manager at the BIH First Steps Venture Centre noted that a change in mind-set is required from “how things have always been done” to cultivate a corporate culture for innovation where performance is gauged by contribution and implementation of innovative ideas and processes. LEA identified 11 micro businesses out of the selected SMME beneficiaries to audit. From their preliminary report, three challenges which hinder growth amongst these SMMEs included difficulties with book- keeping, stock taking and pricing and compliance issues (failure to file tax returns). ***Capacity- building with SES Germany Managers Without Borders inserted here The PSDP is larger than the audits. It takes a holistic approach to engaging and improving the growth of businesses, getting through to the core of what the businesses need. The Programme is helping businesses to make a difference to their bottom line, which will have an exponential effect on the economy of Botswana, in line with the Economic Diversification Drive.

PSDP implemented energy efficiency management model for SMEs *Photo Hazvenei 26th April 2015

In his article about the process of capacitating the local private sector, the Head ofthe Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), Sid Boubekeur, mentioned that the specific coaching of SMMEs targets a range of advanced business aspects including increasing productivity and environmental awareness in the interests of streamlining their use of energy for the success of their enterprises. Botswana is one of the countries in Southern Africa experiencing electricity shortages with a negative impact on its economic development. The country’s proportion of imported electricity from the region has gone down during the past few years, placing pressure on local power generation. Therefore, the Government is contemplating the development of renewable energy technologies as well as implementing energy efficiency and conservation (clean energy) as one of the most promising options to meet the domestic demand. In order to raise awareness on clean energy, the PSDP provided technical assistance to eight (8) selected Small, Medium & Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs). The main objectives of the technical assistance were to raise awareness on energy management among the six established enterprises and to assist in business planning and mentoring of the two start-up enterprises. The benefits to the 8 selected enterprises for participating in the PSDP were; capacity building on energy and environmental management, detailed plant assessments in order to identify energy saving opportunities, an economic appraisal of the identified energy efficiency measures, development of action plans for implementation of energy efficiency measures as well as identifying financial institutions that support new business ventures and energy projects. The six established enterprises were assisted with plant assessments to identify the issues on site and determine opportunities for improvement. Among the issues identified were a low level of awareness on energy management among employees and good housekeeping practices; poor understanding of how electricity (demand and consumption) is charged by the power utility, challenges in the service and maintenance of production equipment and unnecessary energy consumption due to machines that are left idling when there is no production, amongst other challenges. The two start-up enterprises were assisted with business planning and mentoring. Among the issues identified at the start-up enterprises included the lack of skills in business planning and management, bookkeeping, budgeting, cash flow management and investment analysis and challenges with the access to finance. Some successes have already been achieved among the participating enterprises. So far, five of the established enterprises have implemented some of the recommended low cost energy efficiency measures using their own resources. These energy efficiency measures include training on energy management, behavioural change, monitoring of electricity consumption, replacing existing inefficient lights with more energy efficient lights, installing translucent roof sheets and painting of factory walls to improve lighting levels, and implementing maintenance schedules of equipment in the factory. The enterprises have also started addressing occupational health and safety issues including improving on ventilation and implementing good housekeeping practices. One of the established enterprises has started mobilising financial resources for the complete upgrade of its production facilities to improve on production efficiency and reduce environmental impacts. The two start-up enterprises were assisted with business planning and mentoring. At the beginning of the project, the enterprise that is involved in supplying LED lights did not have a proper sales office but now it has a fully-fledged office to display and market its products. The enterprise is facing challenges in accessing cheap finance to establish a manufacturing facility for LED lights. The enterprise that is involved in waste management was also not operational at the beginning of the project but now it is operating from rented premises and has purchased basic equipment for waste collection and recycling. The company is seeking finance to expand its operations. PSDP will continue following the progress of the established enterprises in implementing energy efficiency measures and provide further training where required. On the issue of access to finance by start-ups, PSDP will assist in identifying suitable financial institutionsand linking them with the enterprises. The enterprises will have to engage with these financial institutions in order to meet the financing requirements. To raise awareness on energy management among SMMEs, the PSDP conducted an awareness training workshop for 19 enterprises. The workshop focused on the basic principles of energy management, methodology for energy auditing, case studies on energy efficiency measures including LED lighting and demonstrations on how energy can be saved in various operational systems of the business environment. Gauging from the positive evaluation of this workshop, the PSDP is recommended to conduct more workshop to raise awareness on energy management among SMMEs. The Programme is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The Programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise and BOCCIM. HazveneiMujomais the PSDP expert on Energy Efficiency Management for Entreprises

Botswana Stakeholders Look Forward to Private Sector Transformation PSDP 29th March 2015

The private sector is set to thrive through the intervention of the Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) which is an initiative of the Government of Botswana, represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The goals of the Programme are to strengthen the value chain of SMMEs and community based organisations (CBOs); promote SMME participation in procurement; enhance the service delivery of Intermediary Organisations (IOs); improve access to financing for SMMEs and empower women entrepreneurs. The Head of Cooperation for the EU Delegation to Botswana and SADC, indicated that “The PSDP is key to the growth of Botswana’s economy and arrives at a good time for the private sector under the Economic Diversification Drive.” On the importance of a strong private sector, Chief Commercial Officer of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Gideon Mmolawa, said, “Competitive local enterprises will ensure their reinforced participation in the economy, creating jobs, wealth, reducing poverty and contributing towards Government’s long- term objective of diversifying the economy”. The PSDP is implemented by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) in collaboration with Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM). CEO of BOCCIM, Maria- Machailo- Ellis, said, “We want to see SMMEs that deliver on their business objectives; that are competitive, access markets outside the country and have the quality and high standards of products and services which will enable them to play in the wider world economy.” Participating SMMEs are from a range of sectors, including manufacturing, tourism and agri- business, taking the entire value chain into consideration. Chief Economist at the MFDP, Kgangmotse Kgangmotse, commended the Programme, saying, “The PSDP will eventually reduce the number of imports and possibly increase exports, thus deploying a good net export balance. It is our desire to see SMMEs become large enterprises, which will also help the private sector in Botswana to grow. The economy should not be heavily dependent on Government but rather be private sector led.” The programme has to date, selected 100 SMMEs including CBOs to be empowered on how to efficiently run their businesses. As a start-up, the programme trained local IOs such as BNPC, CEDA, BOCCIM, BITC, LEA, BIH, and local consultancy firms on diagnosis of SMMEs using the CDE audit tools. Furthermore, the respective IOs were involved in conducting audits of the selected 100 companies. The audits identified gaps in the businesses, which will be alleviated with individual coaching and sector- specific mentorship. For his part, the Head of CDE Regional Office for Southern Africa, Sid Boubekeur noted that “Due to the excellent collaboration between the public and private sector, the PSDP Botswana progresses in a favourable environment. I would like to express my gratitude to the MTI, EU Delegation, BOCCIM and MFDP for the support they provided during the preparation and start-up of the Private Sector Development Programme”. The Programme was developed in response to the Public Sector Development Strategy (PSDS) that was initiated by BOCCIM with the help of the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2008. The programme responds to the aspiration of several of Botswana’s goals to strengthen her economy, including the Economic Diversification Drive and the theme of the National Development Plan (NDP) 10, 2009- 2016 and will conclude in 2016.

Background of the Private Sector Development Programme PSDP 23rd September 2014

The PSDP was launched in May 2013 to provide a systematic and coherent framework to promote the development and growth of the private sector. It has identified milestones, bottlenecks and interventions that will contribute towards establishing an enabling environment that will spur entrepreneurial development; attract foreign and domestic private investment and simultaneously create business opportunities. The PSDP responds to the aspiration of Vision 2016 and the theme of the National Development Plan (NDP) 10, 2009- 2016. It is an initiative of the Government of Botswana represented by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), in partnership with the European Union (EU). The programme is supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) and Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM). The programme will run for 3 (three) years and has a budget of €2.3 million.

Private sector in Botswana

The Government plays a major role in business activity with Government institutions providing private sector development services such as training and mentoring, product development, market research and financial support. The public sector employs over 40% of the formal workforce.

PSDS

The PSDS was developed through extensive consultations with various stakeholders and was launched at the height of global financial crisis in 2009. The PSDS is built on four priority areas, which are trade expansion, improving labour productivity, support to trade support institutions and improving the business climate. Four cross cutting issues which have a bearing on private sector development have also been identified and they are; gender, the youth, HIV and AIDS and the environment.

Replication of malls good for Botswana – Experts

The replication of shopping malls in Botswana, more especially its economic hub Gaborone is a development that should be welcome as it will help the retail industry grow. This was said by Tungwa Retail Holdings (TRH) co-founders Lynette Ntuli and Monalisa Samsay.

Argentina, Botswana explore stronger ties, cooperation

Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman met his Botswanan counterpart Phandu Skelemani here on Wednesday and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation. During their meeting, Timerman thanked "Botswana's support on the question of the Malvinas (Falklands) and its recent vote at the United Nations General Assembly in favor of establishing a legal framework for restructuring foreign debt," the Argentine Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Towards an ideas economy

Pule Mmolotsi, the chairman of Botswana Innovators Association and founder of the technology solutions company Olekard Group, has a case to make for innovation. A 15-year veteran of the industry who has worked in countries that placed innovation at th

Favouritism alleged at Office of Auditor General

The retired Auditor General Robby Sebopeng’s leadership style will come to haunt him from fed up officers bent on exposing the corruption that happened during his tenure. After 31 years of service, Sebopeng left the office of the auditor general in

Kazungula construction takes off today

A South Korean Company, Daewoo E&C is expected to sign a US$162 million contract with the governments of Botswana and Zambia to construct the first phase of the Kazungula Bridge project in Livingstone, Zambia today (Friday). Botswana and Zambia have ag