Business Botswana hails resilient First Sun
Correspondent | Thursday February 23, 2017 17:37
Business Botswana (BB) regional director (north), Kebaabetswe Bogatsu praised the company when delivering his keynote address at the First Sun Alliance Insurance Brokers stakeholder breakfast held here on Tuesday.
“We are meeting at a challenging time in our national economy,” said Bogatsu, adding that the nation recently witnessed a spate of closures of some mining operations around the country including TNMC.
“We have seen loss of jobs and declining performance in various sectors of our economy. Economic activities in the city as well as the surrounding areas have been resembling a sad episode,” Bogatsu added.
Bogatsu was, however, optimistic that the mine closure might present an opportunity for Francistown to take a step back and refocus on how to repackage and rebrand itself.
He stated that the taking of a step back and refocusing on how to repackage and rebrand the country’s second largest city is not a duty for the government, but the business community can assist.
“First Sun Insurance should be commended for coming up with innovative insurance solutions aimed at diversifying its scope of business,” Bogatsu said, adding that the insurance product growth would result in employment creation and viability of the company. First Sun Insurance was launching its First Sun Executive Plus in Francistown and the greater northern part of the country. The product was initially launched in November 2016 in Gaborone.
“Through this launch, First Sun Insurance is sending an unequivocal message to other members of the business community that the city of Francistown is still very much open for business opportunity,” he said.
Bogatsu called upon other business operators to take a leaf from First Sun Insurance Brokers’ book and join hands with the government in ensuring that the economy of Francistown is resuscitated.
“We both need to seize the moment and see the current challenge as a temporary phase, out of which we should emerge much stronger and reinvigorated. There is, indeed, a strong business case to make for Francistown,” he said.
Managing director, Paul Chitate, founded First Sun Alliance in 1999. In April 2016, its shareholding was diversified to include citizens who now hold majority share.
Tiny Kgatlwane, Tebatso Lekalake, Keneilwe Mere and Kgaotsang Matthews have acquired a majority stake of First Sun Insurance Brokers.