Grant Thornton partners BOCCIM to unlock business potential
Isaac Pinielo | Thursday November 27, 2014 14:44
Managing partner at Grant Thornton Botswana, Jay Ramesh, stated that the award would exclude public institutions, listed companies’ and parastatals, adding that it would recognise the private business that has scored the best in most of the criteria.
The selection criteria for the overall winner include points in innovation, market development, people and culture, strategic leadership, improvements in financial measures and government’s Economic Diversification Drive as well as assistance to local communities.
“We are in the process of developing rules, regulations, data privacy, eligibility and selection criteria in consultation with Grant Thornton global and locally with BOCCIM,” said Ramesh.
He also said these would be formulated and finalised within the next few months. He further stated that after due selection and shortlisting of the participating companies, by a carefully appointed panel of judges selected from the wider business community would pick a winner who would be announced at a gala event to be held in October next year.
As the Grant Thornton will be entering its 40th year in Botswana next year, Ramesh expressed pride at the Corporate Social Responsibility programme that the company has been involved in, supporting many organisations in the country.
“This will mark our 40 years of “making a positive difference” in the Botswana business community,” said Ramesh. He stressed that the award would reflect the spirit of Grant Thornton of being associated with dynamic organisations, and working with them to unlock their potential.
Ramesh also revealed that contributions come from the many cash donations that the company makes to deserving charities, those that are directly managed by trustworthy groups, through the amount of honorary audits and accounting that the company does for many charity organisations and societies, and from the amount of professional time and assistance that the company provides to many of these organisations. He added that some of the organisations that they offer assistance to are the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants, Dinaletsana, Eve’s Club, Childline and Lions Club.
“In the last 20 years, we have invested many hours in the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants - to develop the accounting and auditing profession in the country,” he added.
Grant Thornton Botswana, a member firm of Grant Thornton International has, for the past 10 years, been involved in the International Business Report survey, which has provided data and trends relating to the business climate and behaviours within Botswana, as well as offering comparison with global data.
Approximately 200 business owners are interviewed in Botswana annually to gather data for the survey.