Gov't pours P379m into Lobatse Leather Park
Pauline Dikuelo | Tuesday August 9, 2022 06:00
The leather park has been in the pipeline since 2014 with little progress, a fact that has frustrated Lobatse authorities and residents. In 2020, the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) had said it completed the evaluation of the project and was awaiting its adjudication.
By then, LEA had anticipated the project to kickstart in December that year. The same year, SEZA was reported to have suggested that the leather park business case study be reviewed to ensure that the enterprise would be profitable.
They said it emerged that the leather that is available locally is not enough to run a profitable operation when it comes to the leather park. Once operational, the park is expected to supply the private sector with hides and skin, raw to finished leather tanneries, and the manufacturing of different leather products. These products include shoes, belts, jackets, and others thereby playing an instrumental role in stimulating economic activity.
Speaking during the Ghanzi Agricultural Show recently, Mogara said the Master Planning of the Lobatse Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which entailed a Business Case and Urban Design Masterplan was awarded to a local consultant who completed it within budget at a cost of P8.5 million.
He said the masterplan positions the Lobatse Meat and Leather City as a vibrant meat and leather processing ecosystem that will produce finished meat and leather products such as sausages, canned beef, soaps, leather garments, and upholstery for vehicles.
“This will expand our product space, thereby enhancing the development of new patents and franchising opportunities in Botswana,” the CEO said. Meanwhile, SEZA has also commenced the establishment of clusters as feeders to SEZ and also a Multi Commodities Exchange (MCX) platform which will accommodate both hard and soft commodities where soft commodities are from the agriculture sector and hard commodities are from the mineral sector. “This platform/MCX is essentially an organised marketplace where buyers and sellers come together to trade.
This will remedy our informal market structures, remove barriers to integration, and upgrade value chains. The platform/MCX will also unlock opportunities for new high-growth companies and employment creation. SEZA will work very closely with ministries of Agriculture, Minerals, and Entrepreneurship to ensure the smooth rollout of this initiative,” Mogara said.