CEDA allocates P37m to Lobatse businesses
Pauline Dikuelo | Tuesday April 28, 2015 14:21
Of this amount, about 18 percent was allocated to manufacturing, 9.2 percent to agriculture while the remaining 9.4 percent went to service businesses.
When addressing Lobatse residents during the CEDA open day on Friday, CEDA chief executive officer, Thabo Thamane said that this is a small amount considering that the agency receives about P342 million as a subvention from government.
“Since 2011, we decided that every single thebe that comes from the government goes straight to finance Batswana projects. All you need is a solid sustainable business that will convince us to finance the project, mind you, the business should be able to create more jobs for Batswana,” he said. Thamane urged the community of Lobatse to embrace this opportunity, adding that the Lobatse Town Council (LTC) should give people security, as it mostly hinders people from pursing their dreams. Thamane also decried the high Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) connection fees that affect businesses as some might fail due to lack of the fees
He also noted that Land Board should plan when allocating plots especially business plots so that they can be accessible and suit the environment. “Government realised that banks offer people loans at a high interest, then it decided to reduce the interest so that it would not affect small businesses through CEDA. We even have a grace period of four years where we assess how the business is doing before we can claim our money back,” he noted.
CEDA finance debt between P500, 000 to P500, 000,00 and interest rate is about five percent while the interest is 7.5 percent between P501 000,00 and P1million.
Amongst their services, Thamane said that they have the credit guarantee where they work closely with local banks. Under the initiative, they assure that if a business collapses after securing a loan with a bank, they will pay about 75 percent of the debt.
“We also have short term finance where businesses can approach us after winning a tender and one does not have sufficient funds to operate. We will finance your project and the business owner will pay us back,” he said. Thamane added that they have an initiative, which ensures that commercial property investments remain in the hands of the citizens.
Since the beginning of this year, CEDA has hosted several open day events across the country, with the aim to bring services to people and ensure that local communities reap from the establishment of the Small, Medium Micro and Enterprises (SMMEs).