National Entrepreneurship Policy on the cards

Staff Writer | Thursday January 14, 2010 00:00

 

To this end, the Commonwealth Secretariat has appointed Urban-Econ Development Economists to conduct the review of the SMME Policy of 1998 and the development of the National Entrepreneurship Policy and Implementation Strategy.

This policy seeks to address entrepreneurs or individuals in order to inculcate the culture of entrepreneurship.  According to LEA, this is done in recognition of the general lack of such a culture among the citizens of Botswana that has led to poor performance of their businesses. Under this policy, LEA provides assistance to entrepreneurs during the pre-start period and three years thereafter.

In an effort to publicise the project, the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) on behalf of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat will be hosting the launch for the development of the National Entrepreneurship Policy and Implementation Strategy next week in Gaborone.

The launch forms part of the project's communication strategy aimed at ensuring effective public outreach, transparency, relevance and responsiveness in all stages of the development of the Entrepreneurship Policy and Implementation Strategy. A statement from LEA says that 'in this vein the specific purpose of the launch is to brief the media fraternity on the objectives, scope, expected outcomes and impact of the development of the National Entrepreneurship Policy and Implementation Strategy,'
The other purpose is to ensure the effective anchoring of the project within the public domain to foster public support and acceptance of the project.

'We also need to inform all critical stakeholders involved in the development of the entrepreneurship and the SMME sector of the project and ensure their effective participation in the development of the Entrepreneurship Policy and Implementation Strategy', reads the statement .

Guests of honour at the launch will include the Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Dorcus Makgato-Malesu and the Acting Permanent Secretary, Minister of Trade and Industry, Boniface Mphetlhe.

They will be joined by members of the project team who include Chairperson of the Board of LEA Mabu Nteta, CEO of LEA, Dr Tebogo Matome, Project Manager from the Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr Timothy William and the Team Leader, Urban Econ Development Economists, Eugene De Beer.