Masa Square Supports Growth Of Fashion Industry
Correspondent | Monday October 23, 2017 14:45
The talkshop, which is aimed at contributing towards the development of talent, creativity and entrepreneurialism amongst Botswana youth, was hosted under the theme: ‘Expanding Your Business Internationally In A Challenging Local Economy’.
Participants at the talkshop of the hotel’s 2017 mentorship campaign included corporate director at Barclays Bank of Botswana, Lesley Bradley along with her colleagues; Kushata Chilisa, head of enterprise and supply chain development and SME regional manager, Rapula Leepile. The guest speaker was MTN South Africa Foundation general manager, Kusile Mthunzi-Hairwadzi.
“Any industry can be affected by challenging economic conditions where concerning consumer demand is adversely affected or even when there are changes in policy or industry practice. This is why we engaged stakeholders, especially from the financial services sector to share their insights into ways to position an enterprise with a business model that stands the test of time and market fluctuations. Which then allows for business continuity, which our nation needs to fully harness.
Ultimately, it is essential that members of both the public and private sectors keep the conversation going that encourages local enterprising, which we believe can significantly contribute towards driving economic development and diversification,” said Neo Nkele, sales and marketing manager. The hotel said it conceptualised the talkshop theme to inspire its fashion mentees to consider exporting their goods to the Southern African region and beyond with the sentiment that international commerce offers a variety of opportunities for growth in terms of reach and market competitiveness.
Barclays Bank’s partnering with Masa Square Hotel to host the finale talk shop came off the back of the Bank’s established track record of building initiatives to drive greater financial literacy. In line with supporting youth entrepreneurship and Botswana enterprising, Barclays Bank has a Pan-African initiative, namely, the Ready-to-Work programme. The Ready-to-Work programme initiative is designed to offer support to young entrepreneurs in the successful formation and running of their businesses to serve local and global markets.
Over the past eight months, as part of the Masa Fashion Show campaign, Masa Square Hotel has been busy with preparations for its Fashion Mentorship Programme. The programme was conceptualised to provide a platform for upcoming businesspeople from the Botswana fashion and creative industry.
The purpose of the series has been to provide insights into ways in which local creatives can turn their passion into viable and sustainable businesses. The talkshop series has also introduced the mentees to other Botswana youth in business to share their stories of success and expose them to different industry leaders in Botswana and their interrelation. Friday’s proceedings marked the third and finale installment of the inaugural talk shop series.