PPPs key to manufacturing sector recovery

Isaac Pinielo | Friday October 10, 2014 17:20

The sector contributes a mere five percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) although it employs more labour than the mining sector. This shows that it’s growth is still weak.

In an interview with BusinessWeek, Raditedu, urged government to introduce a globally competitive regulatory framework and improve performance of government bureaucratic processes.

“The private sector needs to partner with government and engage in continuous dialogue on matters that affect this industry,” he said.  Although globalisation has allowed manufacturers to increase access to developing markets, Raditedu notes that this has resulted in the globalisation of supply chains as firms around the world compete for business. He pointed out that firms should engage in reforming public education in order to produce a skilled workforce that could revitalise the manufacturing industry. He added that they would establish consortiums to help sustain and grow businesses through sharing technology and innovative ideas.

He emphasised that local firms should be globally focused and committed to training their employees on productivity. He also said that government’s objective is to diversify away from mining in order to increase its export trade. “Local manufacturing firms should take advantage of the free movement of goods within the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) and other trade agreements that are available,” he said.

Raditedu said in addition to the difficulties involved with attracting skilled labour, the manufacturing industry had also struggled with training current employees as they struggled to locate and retain skilled personnel.

He lamented poor work ethic, which he said renders the manufacturing sector uncompetitive, as a niggling issue. Raditedu said poor work ethic is detrimental to growth of the manufacturing industry, adding that some Batswana have a mediocre approach to business and service provision. “When you consider that a modern manufacturing plant is also looking for employees who can work as part of a team, multi-task, and work through minor problems, the absence of even the most basic skills is cause for concern.

“Most companies complain of a lot of absenteeism especially during month end and after weekends or holidays. This gives us a bad image as a country for doing business,” he noted. He added that another concern is inefficient government bureaucracy, access to financing, an inadequately educated labour force and restrictive labour relations. Last year, Botswana generated US$ 252 million (P2.2 billion) from exports to the United States through the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), with the textile industry contributing the most exports.