Diversification

* Moeti Mohwasa | Monday August 16, 2010 00:00

I still remember in 1982 when as a very young resident of Selebi-Phikwe I attended a meeting, which was addressed by Dr Gaositwe Chiepe who was then Minister in the then Ministry of Mineral Resources and Water Affairs. In tow was Charles Tibone who was then her Permanent Secretary.

The purpose of the meeting which was held at Phikwe Primary School, which had a stand next to the football pitch was to inform the residents about the low copper prices and brief them on the government efforts to save BCL mine from possible closure. Talking about the stand, I remember that regional primary school sports competitions were mostly held at Phikwe Primary School because it had a stand which is now rundown and an eyesore due to lack of maintenance. 

Government efforts included the setting up of textile factories in Selebi-Phikwe, many of which have since closed shop. The reality is, Selebi-Phikwe currently relies heavily on BCL mine operations and it is very important to move the town away from reliance on mining to ensure that the closure of the mine does not significantly impact on the town.

Typical of the BDP, there is no clear strategy on how the Selebi-Phikwe economy will be diversified. A lot of BDP government's efforts fail because none of them are guided by a strategic plan with clear goals, objectives and key performance indicators (plan of action). Objectives have to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound in order for them to be effective.

At the moment the government does not seem to be working on any diversification strategy that can enable period review of diversification efforts and objectives. This makes it even hard to measure performance. Just like it happened with missed opportunities associated with the world cup, the government will not admit that they failed in their efforts to diversify the economy of Selebi Phikwe.

A number of factors contribute to government failure to achieve concrete results on its diversification efforts. Chief amongst these is lack of a clear strategy. The absence of a diversification strategy makes planning and performance measurement difficult because no one knows what the target is or what everyone is working towards.

Moving Selebi Phikwe economy away from over reliance on BCL will therefore remain a dream because there are no objectives, goals and key performance indicators (plan of action) on how diversification will be realised. For example it is not clear whether the government want to turn Selebi Phikwe into an industrial town, academic town or tourist town.

All these are possible and realistic ways of transforming Selebi Phikwe economy provided a suitable strategic plan is adopted and the government has political courage and determination to save the town. In South Africa for instance you have Grahamstown which is purely an academic town. The economy of this town relies on student community. It is home to Rhodes University and a good number of private schools that attract students from all over the world.

There was an opportunity to turn Selebi Phikwe into an academic town a few years back following the Task Force recommendation to locate the proposed Botswana International University of Science and Technology in Selebi Phikwe. As decision makers had a vested interest on the location of this development the Task Force recommendation was overruled and Palapye was chosen as location for the university. As if this was not enough snub, the proposed Technical College in Selebi Phikwe will not be constructed. The ministry of Education has said that it will instead expand the current one. One wonders if when the decision to put up a new one the authorities were not aware of this option.

BEDIA which is mandated to promote export oriented investment can for instance initiate a targeted marketing communication strategy, which is meant to exclusively market Selebi Phikwe to the world as an investment destination and eventually establish Selebi Phikwe as an industrial town. This may be feasible due to the town's proximity to Mozambique port.  SPEDU, which is a government department which is charged with attracting and promoting investment in the town should have its capacity increased by committing more resources (both human and financial) to it.

The other thing that undermines diversification of Selebi Phikwe is infrastructure development. Investors look for a number of things before they invest in an area. Unfortunately, Selebi Phikwe is always overlooked when it comes to such projects. If any infrastructure development is undertaken the standard is normally low.  The Selebi Phikwe stadium is a good example of low standard infrastructural development.  It will not be a suprise if the Serowe stadium, which is apparently located in poor soils is relocated and rebuilt and nothing is done to the Selebi Phikwe one.

The construction of a Testing Centre for Department of Road Transport and Safety has also been delayed and yet the government decided to construct one in Serowe, Palapye and Mahalapye, all these within a radius of 70km.

The upgrading of Selebi Phikwe airport is long overdue.  Some bus ranks in the country are even better than this airport.  The substandard airport essentially discounts air transport as an alternative transport mode into Selebi Phikwe.  These are some examples of government tendencies that have a massive contribution in making Selebi Phikwe unattractive for investment.

The BDP government have very misplaced priorities.  If the government got its priorities right the diversification of Selebi Phikwe could be made one of the national priorities.  If the president put a fraction of the same commitment he puts in killing the entertainment industry and setting national curfew into providing political leadership to diversify the economy of Selebi Phikwe, there is no doubt that the town can be saved from collapsing after the BCL mine closes down. *Moeti Mohwasa writes in his personal capacity.