Business

LEA partners Indian firm

Isaac Pinielo | Tuesday October 7, 2014 11:19

Matome.PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO
 
Matome.PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO

 

The MOU will, among other things, enable NSIC to assist LEA in carrying out industrial potential surveys and feasibility studies to identify thrust areas and opportunities for the development of small enterprises in Botswana on mutually agreed terms. NSIC will also assist LEA in setting up Business Incubation Centres for demonstration and training on technologies for startup entrepreneurs of Botswana. This includes supply of required machinery or equipments, raw materials, installation and commissioning at site, as well as training to LEA trainers on mutually agreed commercial terms.
According to NSIC chairman, Ravindra Nath, the Rapid Incubation Programme is a concept patented in India, with a large degree of success in many countries including five African countries. He said the main objective of the programme is to provide an integrated support system for the unemployed through an incubation centre mandated to empower them with knowledge, infrastructure and other support services for setting up enterprises. “It is regarded as one of the appropriate tools to prepare any unemployed person for entrepreneurship and to build their capacity for setting up a new enterprise,” he explained. 
With Small and Medium Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) employing over 300,000 people in the country and contributing 35 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it is evident that SMMEs are very significant in employment creation, poverty eradication, and economic diversification. However, SMMEs face tremendous challenges that threaten their survival and growth. The challenges include lack of or limited access to markets, financial inadequacies, limited management skills, poor work ethics and lack of competitiveness.
Realising the need for empowering the small enterprises in Botswana, LEA and NSIC also launched the Rapid Incubation Programme in Botswana. 
Commenting on the MOU, LEA board chairman, Batlhatswi Tsayang said the partnership between LEA and NSIC is a result of detailed deliberations that have been ongoing between the two organisations since 2012. At the time, LEA was deliberating ways to attain sustainable SMME development.
“The Rapid Incubation programme is one such project that will contribute immensely towards the economic diversification agenda,” he stated.
Tsayang added that the programme would create employment opportunities for the entrepreneurs who will be housed as incubates, as well as those that will be employed once they graduate from the incubator to set their own businesses.
He also acknowledged the efforts that SMMEs have been making in starting and growing their businesses, however noting that they are aware of the limitations that these enterprises face in the daily operations of their businesses. “The Rapid Incubation will be closing these gaps and in the process ensuring that incubates are capacitated with practical skills needed to manage their enterprises,” said Tsayang.
Acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Peggy Serame, indicated that the Rapid Incubation project came at an ideal time when LEA had just launched its 2014-2017 growth strategy that is expected to develop a new offering for micro enterprises and expand existing comprehensive interventions, including offering value-adding business intelligence to SMMEs.
“At the centre of the LEA transformational strategy, is the development of requisite skills and the empowerment of small businesses which the Rapid Incubation project will help us to achieve,” she said.
Serame further thanked NSIC for their commitment and assistance in bringing various international and regional expertise and experiences together, as well as providing support for Batswana entrepreneurs.
Since its inception, LEA has trained about 10,700 entrepreneurs in Botswana and has mentored and coached them to grow their enterprises.

The MOU will, among other things, enable NSIC to assist LEA in carrying out industrial potential surveys and feasibility studies to identify thrust areas and opportunities for the development of small enterprises in Botswana on mutually agreed terms. NSIC will also assist LEA in setting up Business Incubation Centres for demonstration and training on technologies for startup entrepreneurs of Botswana. This includes supply of required machinery or equipments, raw materials, installation and commissioning at site, as well as training to LEA trainers on mutually agreed commercial terms.

According to NSIC chairman, Ravindra Nath, the Rapid Incubation Programme is a concept patented in India, with a large degree of success in many countries including five African countries. He said the main objective of the programme is to provide an integrated support system for the unemployed through an incubation centre mandated to empower them with knowledge, infrastructure and other support services for setting up enterprises. “It is regarded as one of the appropriate tools to prepare any unemployed person for entrepreneurship and to build their capacity for setting up a new enterprise,” he explained. 

With Small and Medium Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) employing over 300,000 people in the country and contributing 35 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it is evident that SMMEs are very significant in employment creation, poverty eradication, and economic diversification. However, SMMEs face tremendous challenges that threaten their survival and growth. The challenges include lack of or limited access to markets, financial inadequacies, limited management skills, poor work ethics and lack of competitiveness.Realising the need for empowering the small enterprises in Botswana, LEA and NSIC also launched the Rapid Incubation Programme in Botswana. 

Commenting on the MOU, LEA board chairman, Batlhatswi Tsayang said the partnership between LEA and NSIC is a result of detailed deliberations that have been ongoing between the two organisations since 2012. At the time, LEA was deliberating ways to attain sustainable SMME development.“The Rapid Incubation programme is one such project that will contribute immensely towards the economic diversification agenda,” he stated.Tsayang added that the programme would create employment opportunities for the entrepreneurs who will be housed as incubates, as well as those that will be employed once they graduate from the incubator to set their own businesses.He also acknowledged the efforts that SMMEs have been making in starting and growing their businesses, however noting that they are aware of the limitations that these enterprises face in the daily operations of their businesses. “The Rapid Incubation will be closing these gaps and in the process ensuring that incubates are capacitated with practical skills needed to manage their enterprises,” said Tsayang.Acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Peggy Serame, indicated that the Rapid Incubation project came at an ideal time when LEA had just launched its 2014-2017 growth strategy that is expected to develop a new offering for micro enterprises and expand existing comprehensive interventions, including offering value-adding business intelligence to SMMEs.

“At the centre of the LEA transformational strategy, is the development of requisite skills and the empowerment of small businesses which the Rapid Incubation project will help us to achieve,” she said.Serame further thanked NSIC for their commitment and assistance in bringing various international and regional expertise and experiences together, as well as providing support for Batswana entrepreneurs.Since its inception, LEA has trained about 10,700 entrepreneurs in Botswana and has mentored and coached them to grow their enterprises.