Next year, according to town Mayor, Molosiwa Molosiwa, will be a very busy period for Selebi-Phikwe as evidenced by the way various stakeholders came together and refocused their resources towards revitalising the town’s economy. “A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) has been signed between the council and SPEDU to foster a rapid revitalisation programme for the town,” he said. The regional chamber of commerce that is officially registered as Regional Business Voice Association has had a positive input in mobilising the business community and hopes to hit the ground running by January next year.
SPEDU on the other hand is currently involved in 14 projects comprising nine citizen-owned companies in information technology and manufacturing, three government projects and two foreign-owned in the agricultural sector. These companies, according to the SPEDU chief executive officer, Dr Mokubung Mokubung, are expected to invest approximately P277.5 million. Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency (CEDA) and other funding agencies will finance projects with an amount of P17. 5 million. Targeted employment creation is 1,560 in 12 months, 2,480 in the next two years and 5,800 in the next three years. Mokubung said during the recent stakeholder engagement meeting that to date, 569 jobs have been created against the target of 1,170. On agri-business sector, the National Agro Processing Plant (NAPRO) has already made positive strides in securing market from various supermarkets. The total sales for the processing plant since April this year is P98,570 and since April to date 2,383.74 kg of produce that include tomatoes, cabbage, onion and beetroot have been procured from farmers.
