BEDIA chairman, Uttum Corea said at the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) workshop recently that the informal sector cluster development strategy should bolster Botswana’s foreign direct investment drive.
“The workshop, a first in BEDIA history, should assist in reinforcing Botswana’s informal sector’s strategic focus and increase FDI, given the fierce global competition,” he said.
The workshop was meant to draw the informal sector into the mainstream of the economy and was attended by delegates from Botswana, Ghana, South Africa among others.
It came at a time when African business is being relegated to the margin of the global foreign direct investment game. At the workshop, the Chief Technical Officer in the Department of Industrial Affairs Banusi Jallow cautioned that the cluster creation and development in Botswana should be done in phases to engender a conducive environment for FDI.
“We should be able to identify areas where FDIs could be part of the process. In my field, if we are organised, we should develop SMMES that will vertically integrate weaving and cloth-making to cut down raw materials importation costs,” she said. Deputy Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Ruth Nyakotey warned that WAIPA faced challenges of enhancing production and export potential of the private sector and NGOs.
She lamented that the informal business and other small and medium enterprises across the continent are faced with lack of access to finance, new technology and the penetration of external markets.
“The most daunting challenge lies in securing the finance and technology needed in overcoming market drawbacks such as poor quality and packaging,” she said, adding that “once these factors are taken on board, the chances of securing external markets would be greatly enhanced”.
“The goals take time to achieve, though, Ghana, which has had a longer exposure with clusters, is still grappling with similar problems,” she said.
