SPEDU chief encourages stakeholder collaboration
Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday September 2, 2015 12:04
Addressing a full meeting of the Selebi-Phikwe Town Council last week, Mokubung said SPEDU aims to stimulate sustainable economy for the town as evidenced by the major projects that are on going here.
He said as an organisation they have the energy and drive to achieve this.
He added that SPEDU is mandated to create a coordinated long-term campaign to develop entrepreneurial skills and help people identify business opportunities.
He said they also aim to promote investment and facilitate trade by identifying barriers to trade and facilitate market access.
“We do believe that we can have business councils in place. We are planning to have specialised councils in the SPEDU region to crystallise all these ideas,” he said.
He added that SPEDU currently has a land bank of 74 plots that are not yet allocated because they want to allocate them in a strategic manner so that they have an economic drive to contribute towards sustainable growth for the regional economy.
He said one of the ongoing projects include a P12.8 million Motloutse farm electrification project that is aimed at reviving horticulture along Motloutse river.
He added that 45 farms that are already in operation along the river will benefit directly from the power line.
He said P9.9 million has been paid to Botswana Power Corporation for power connection. “SPEDU will develop clusters along these production lines for increased yields. Eight hundred hectares of land is anticipated to create 2,500 direct jobs once clusters are fully operational,” he said.
He added that the horticulture packaging and processing plant that SPEDU is undertaking in collaboration with the National Food Research Testing Centre is expected to be completed by September this year. The processing plant test drive is scheduled to take place in October. Government allocated P9.9 million for the processing plant’s working capital and an additional P4.9 million was injected later to ensure that the project materialises.