Botswana SMEs struggle to penetrate export markets

This is as a result of promoters’ poor quality of their products, lack of entrepreneurial skills, lack of finance and inconsistency in production. For the past decades, high numbers local SMEs have failed in their first phase of operation, which is normally the first three to five years. Those that survive usually continue to operate in conditions of uncertainty due to volatile market, intense competitive rivalry, lack of marketing skills, shortage of serviced land just amongst others.

According to LEA’s 2017/2018 annual report, SMEs continue to struggle to access markets for their products, owing to a number of factors like low product and service quality, preference of imports by some markets, incapacity and inconsistency in production and absence of deliberate policy instruments or mechanisms to protect the local suppliers.