F/Town could be mining supplies hub
Patricia Edwin | Tuesday August 26, 2014 13:29
He said Francistown is not only open to, but is well positioned to become the mining industry’s hub for supplies and goods.
“All mines require supplies for efficient and effective production and these have to be delivered well in time to avoid loss of production,” he said. Explaining further how a hub functions, Siwawa said a hub consolidates and distributes consumables, capital equipment and spares and operates as a wholesaler of goods with shared logistics and IT services.
“All the large mining houses around the world operate around similar principles, therefore extend the same principles to all mining companies in Botswana,” said the mining boss.
“The mine’s products have different characteristics requiring different modes of transport and the logistics feasible, therefore, relate more to inward than market oriented,” he said.
Meanwhile, Debswana Mining Company managing director Balisi Bonyongo commenting on the forum said the forum was all about development and investment opportunities in the greater Francistown area. He also said that they were there to share strategies that can position the city and the region as the leading economic hub in Southern Africa by 2022.
“This is an ambitious aspiration and it needs to be. It is also coming at the right time when Botswana is attempting to reposition itself to find new engines of growth in the economy,” he said.