We are exporting jobs - Gare
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday May 30, 2023 06:00
The concern was relayed by the Minister of Entrepreneurship, Karabo Gare when officially opening the Business Botswana Northern Trade Fair (BBNTF) here on Friday.
The Fair was held under the theme, “Promoting Economic Growth Industrialisation”. Gare said Botswana still has challenges to beneficiate its diamond and beef sector, adding it was high time the country fully exploited its diamonds and beef among others in order to benefit Batswana. “We should fully exploit our various resources locally in order to create jobs.
We are exporting a lot of jobs by not adding value to our resources. If we don’t add value to our resources in every sector, we will not achieve the ideals of 2036, which aims to transform Botswana from an upper middle-income country to a high-income.
We should fine tune our current policies in order to achieve the aims of 2036,” said Gare. He added that Botswana cannot transform her economy by employing more people in the public sector. “The economy of Botswana should be led by the private sector for it to industrialise.
As a country, we should strive to be innovative and creative if we want to industrialise although it takes time. We banned the importation of some vegetables. This move, although painful to some local entrepreneurs, was done to encourage local farmers to industrialise. The country is now fully sufficient in the products that we banned,” said Gare.
His words were echoed by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mmusi Kgafela at the Thapama Hotel on Friday during a Business Botswana seminar. Kgafele said: “Today’s theme is very relevant and aligned to the aspirations of the government. Since independence, industrialisation has always been considered a key stimulant to economic growth, development and poverty reduction.
This is the same reason it has always been enshrined in our National Development Plans as part of the economic diversification upon the realisation that the country is dependent on minerals as a source of revenue. However, this industrialisation drive has not yielded the desired results hence the need to accelerate and come up with recommendations that would ensure results.
This year’s theme does not only speak to my ministry’s mandate, it also talks to all of us in government and the private sector...” The Industrial Development Policy of 2014, Kgafela noted, does recognise beneficiation as one of the forms in which we can industrialise. “The President’s Reset Agenda has also provided or added an impetus to our beneficiation drive.
One of the priority areas is a focus on value chain development. Let me hasten to say, today we are to dialogue on this and chart a way forward for the country’s Industrialisation Agenda. I wish that we consider the challenges hindering industrialisation and also consider possible opportunities that can assist us to see industrial growth in the economy...,” added Kgafela.
According to experts, the benefits of beneficiation or value addition of minerals are many. They include creation of employment opportunities, increase of a business' profit prospects, increases the business' profit margins, mitigate the imbalance of trade/reduction of trade deficits and increasing of the host country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) value.