SMMEs business plan approval low
Pauline Dikuelo | Wednesday October 28, 2015 18:00
The Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) revealed on its latest annual report for the 2014/2015 financial year that financiers continue to regard SMMEs as high risk, and therefore apply overly cautious measures when considering funding for them.
According to the LEA’s chief executive officer (CEO), Tebogo Matome they have facilitated development and submissions of 20 business plans at the value of P27.3 million to various financing institutions during the financial year.
However, he noted that business plan development process remains a functional prerequisite to increase investment value through converted business plans, number of new SMMEs and employment creation.
During the same period, the authority also enrolled new SMMEs into their portfolio evidenced by the 102 SMMEs registered against a target of 41 and 4,993 micro enterprises registered compared to a target of 1,760.
“The surge in the number of new SMMEs seeking LEA services was mainly a result of the excitement created by the new strategic focus and opening up to assist all enterprises across sectors,” he said.
According to Matome, LEA continues to sensitise potential entrepreneurs on the clustering concept and its benefits. During the financial year, LEA assisted a total of 56 SMMEs that included Lake Ngami fishermen, Southeast District Piggery Agriculture Management Association, small stock and dairy farmers at Sukunya.
In order to align with the 2014-2017 organisational strategy, which was implemented last year, the authority developed a turnaround strategy for the four incubators, to achieve optimal results in terms of production, technology adoption and skills acquisition for the accelerated growth.
As part of the strategy, the authority has embarked on remodelling some of the facilities, which will cater for and ensure an increase in the number of beneficiaries or entrepreneurs graduating from the facilities.
According to the CEO, the remodelled operations at Glen Valley horticultural incubator, Gaborone Leather Industries Incubator and Pilane Multi-Sector Incubator have seen progress while the Francistown industrial business incubator remodelled operations will resume in the next financial year. The Francistown incubator will specialise on metal works, carpentry, textile and other service provisions.
“The Glen Valley incubator has been turned into a training and production centre accommodating trainees for a full cropping cycle, which is nine months in the case of tomato production.
Pilane multi-purpose incubator has been modified to focus on food processing and industrial manufacturing,” said Matome.