I am delighted to be with you this morning at the first #PushaBW Selebi Phikwe Expo. Director of ceremonies, before I get to the main objective for today’s event, allow me to reaffirm the Government’s unwavering commitment to drive and deliver the Reset and Reclaim Agenda national priorities.
The 2024/2025 National Budget, provides a solid basis to unlocking more opportunities for sustainable jobs, improving the quality of life, reducing poverty, eliminating gross inequalities, and ultimately achieving a high-income status as a country. I therefore urge all Batswana to capitalise on the opportunities that this budget presents to thrive and “Achieving Prosperity for All”. Ga re tlogele ope kwa morago.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe you will agree with me that since the closure of the BCL mine, we have witnessed a resurgence of the manufacturing sector in the SPEDU region. The region has attracted manufacturing entities on the back of Government efforts to resuscitate and diversify economic activity in this area such as Kalahari Shade Nets, Oxy Gas, Pipe World and Elolam, among others. You will recall that the Government has put together a portfolio of incentives aimed at making the SPEDU region more attractive to investors, such as 5% corporate tax during the first five years and then 10% for an indefinite period and 30% Government off-take.
We have seen a lot of appetite from different investors judging by the number of companies that have since set up in the region. These are the very Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) that are showcasing their products today at this magnificent event of #PushaBW Selebi Phikwe Expo.
The Expo offers a great opportunity for Batswana to appreciate and explore businesses in Selebi Phikwe and the surrounding areas. I am informed that the Expo has attracted a total of 60 exhibitors with over 50% of the businesses being Selebi Phikwe based enterprises. I have further been briefed that most of your products meet market requirements, and you are supplying different markets locally, including the private sector, mines, and Government.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank and applaud all the buyers and encourage the rest to follow. My key message to all buyers is, let us believe in our local products, and buy locally produced goods and services; #PushaBW. A re chencheng, dikakanyo, maikutlo le boitsholo.
The SPEDU area offers vast opportunities in the Agribusiness, Manufacturing, Tourism and Services sectors. As a Special Economic Zone, it has the potential to produce big industries which would, in turn, alleviate unemployment and poverty. An interesting factor about the SPEDU region is that the area is surrounded by many agribusiness opportunities, with enough water underground and in the four (4) dams (Dikgatlhong, Letsibogo, Thune and Lotsane). These resources bring about many opportunities including dam-based tourism opportunities and fish farming.
Ladies and Gentlemen, to promote self-sustenance, my Government introduced restrictions on the importation of selected vegetables and fruits in 2022 and this intervention has led to the reduction of the import bill of the concerned products by 71 percent. While the main objective of this initiative is to reduce import bill, it simultaneously increases our farmers’ capacity to produce for national consumption and ultimately for the export markets.
As Government, we recognise that our efforts to industrialise cannot succeed without enhanced access to both local and external markets. It is for this reason that we found it necessary to invite the private and public sector buyers to be present today to interact and guide you on what it takes to procure from you. This initiative is part of the ongoing #PushaBW Campaign that promotes procurement of locally manufactured goods and services. I will be more delighted if I could witness the signing of an Agreement between one of the exhibitors and a retailer or manufacturer.
The #PushaBW Campaign is a national initiative aimed at encouraging and rallying Batswana to actively grow the local economy by supporting and buying locally made products, supporting local initiatives and using local services. The campaign implores Batswana to empower, sustain and grow the country by consciously purchasing and using products made and grown in Botswana. This goes to the heart of Mind-Set Change to identify with Botswana brands by consciously and systematically redirecting our consumer behaviours, and taking pride in the development of our economic self-sufficiency.
As part of developing value chains, Government is facilitating the establishment of a horticulture market in collaboration with the private sector. The market will enhance self-reliance, access, competitiveness and price stability, the result of which will be the promotion of wider citizen participation in the agro-business and associated value chains. We are no longer shipping our raw materials outside the borders of this economy but we are committed to adding value.
Ladies and Gentlemen, tomorrow you will witness the official launch of the “First Harvest of Citrus Fruits”, from a farm or orchard that is a landmark agri-business project that has been ably facilitated by Government to set up in the SPEDU region. The Selebi Phikwe Citrus represents our commitment towards achieving an export led growth, which is a key outcome in our Vision 2036. This project is one of its kind not only for Botswana but for the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. Selebi Phikwe Citrus brings alongside a lot of opportunities, which will further contribute to another key milestone of value chain development.
The Government stands ready to facilitate Batswana to venture into upstream and downstream activities of the value chain. We want to see a lot of value-added products which are exported from the citrus industry value chain. I am told this farm alone can unlock a significant number of industries such as food and beverages, cosmetic products, cleaning detergents and animal feed.
Director of Ceremonies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me emphatically state that, Government’s facilitation of Batswana to venture into upstream and downstream activities of the value chain, entails the provision of public financing opportunities or avenues, to add to the stable of commercial loans in the banking sector. Financing shouldn’t be a challenge. The call is being made to you to rise up and conceptualise viable and bankable investment projects, with the assistance that you can get from entrepreneurial training offered by the Local Enterprise Authority, as you start small.
The Youth Development Fund continues to be utilised to fund youth start-ups across multiple industries and sectors. Since its inception, the Fund has disbursed One Billion, One Hundred Million Pula, (P1.1 Billion) and in the process created about twenty-two thousand eight hundred and twenty (22,820) jobs. In fulfilling our commitment to promoting equality for all and granting equal opportunities for youth, the Youth Development Fund budget for 2024/2025 has been raised from P104 million to P200 million, representing a 92.3 percent increase.
Government also recognises the informal sector as a significant segment with great potential to play a more meaningful role in the overall economic development and job creation hence a deliberate move to create a revolving Fund, ’Chema Chema Fund’. The Fund has been created to support the informal sector with P500 million capital injection.
To further propel the sustainable growth of the informal sector, the 2019 Informal Sector Strategy will be reviewed and implemented during the next financial year. The Strategy aims to facilitate the provision of decent places of operation for informal businesses, provide capacity building that is essential for skills enhancement, improve market access, promote financial inclusion, and most importantly, find ways to incorporate this sector into the mainstream economy.
I am informed, Ladies and Gentlemen, that the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) recently in January 2024, commissioned works to construct informal sector infrastructure comprising forty-four (44) market stalls, ablutions, a public events area and an eating (chill) area for the informal sector businesses here in Selebi Phikwe. This is commendable!
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, with regard to the promotion and support the country’s food security and agricultural export efforts, Government has introduced Temo Letlotlo which effected during the 2023/2024 ploughing season with P142 million disbursed to farmers by the National Development Bank. Government is finalising Thuo Letlotlo which will be launched during the 2024/2025 financial year. Thuo Letlotlo will serve as a catalyst to our animal production sector by increasing the national herd and enhancing the quality of livestock breeds.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been informed that some of the products being showcased here today are ready for the export markets, while some enterprises are already exporting. You will recall that we ratified the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) on the 19th February 2023, and we are full members of this huge common market comprising 1.3 billion people. This Agreement will enable the free flow of goods and services across the continent and boost the trading position of Africa in the global market, Botswana included. This means we have to participate and upscale production in the targeted sectors over which the impediments of trade tariffs have been removed.
Batho-betsho, my intentions to drive Batswana to attain Prosperity for All are clear as illustrated by the recent joint engagement that I had with Accounting Officers and Chief Executive Officers of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) where I emphasised the need to promote local procurement. I hope that the procuring officers will foster meaningful business relationships where producers and buyers enter into constructive procurement agreements. I would like to emphasise the urgency on the part of buyers (both Government and Private Buyers) to work with producers for continuous quality production within the country and for export.
As I conclude, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the hard-working entrepreneurs of the SPEDU region for their resilience. I implore all of us to embrace consistently prioritise Botswana by supporting homegrown brands.
Rotlhe re tshwanetse ra PushaBW. Re Batswana mo Botswana, Botswana wa rona!
A re chencheng! Re ipele ka dithoto le ditirelo tsa Batswana.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi speaking on the occasion of the #PHUSHABW Selebi-Phikwe EXPO