Women as pillars of economic diversification

CHANDAPIWA BAPUTAKI
Staff Writer | Friday June 25, 2010 00:00

This was revealed by the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs (MLHA), Peter Siele, when officiating at the exposition at Boipuso Hall on Wednesday evening. He said the exhibition was first piloted on a small scale between 1998 and 1999 and was scaled up to a national event in 2000.   Siele said the exposition has the potential to transform women entrepreneurs into an active and productive resource, which equally plays a pivotal role in socio-economic development. This, however, could only be achieved when the necessary tools and stimuli are in place.  He said MLHA has introduced targeted programmes such as provision of grants to poor but self-driven women to start income generating ventures.

'The Ministry also facilitates capacity building and training of these women in various aspects of their lives,' Siele said. 'This exposition also forms part of my Ministry's effort to integrate women into the trade sphere.'

He said there are a number of constraints were identified that continue to thwart the growth of SMMEs in Botswana. These include lack of a conducive regulatory environment, limited access to finance, inadequate entrepreneurial skills, business start-up training as well as restricted marketing skills. The government also acknowledges that women entrepreneurs may find it difficult to sustain their businesses because of lack of access to markets, especially in the early stages of their businesses.

'I, therefore, encourage all relevant economic stakeholders to create strategies for strengthening women's competitiveness in order to enhance their access to national and international markets,' he said.  'Emphasis should be to include women with low incomes in the supply chains.  This is the essence of total economic development and emancipation from the shackles of poverty.'  He appealed to the private sector to partner with the government in addressing issues of gender imbalance, especially in trade. 'Government alone cannot achieve this mammoth task,' he said. 'In any case, by its very nature, the business of ensuring that women and men equally count at organisational level requires commitment at the highest level, as well as meeting the obligation of providing required resources.'

Siele said women do constitute a large proportion of the informal sector. 'We may be aware that Government has consistently acknowledged the contribution of this sector to the national economy, including through employment creation, meeting the needs of the local markets, economic diversification and reducing dependency on imports and mining sector,' he said. Botswana has not been spared the global challenges of inequalities between men and women in various spheres of life, including in trade. In our efforts to promote equality in opportunities for every Motswana in the development process, it becomes imperative that we continue to address socio-cultural and economic factors that reduce women's capacity to engage on an equal footing as their male counterparts, the minister said.  He revealed that government is currently reviewing the Women and Development Policy with a view to formulating a Gender and Development Policy. It is his expectation that this paradigm shift will impact positively on the identity of the government's gender machinery, including the name of the department.  The government has taken the initiative to support local manufacturers and entrepreneurs by creating conducive conditions for producers of a wide variety of products, to supply their local market without undue external competition. The expo has retained last year's theme: Women Entrepreneurs in the Informal Sector: Pillars in Economic Diversification.