Debswana, Bank Gaborone deal yields P850m value

Debswana’s acting supplier development manager, Resego Keipidile said 28 citizen-owned companies had benefited thus far under the diamond group’s Citizen Economic Empowerment Programme (CEEP). The partnership is a pilot of a model Debswana wants to further roll out in its efforts to empower citizen-owned businesses and enable them to better access the diamond group’s procurement budget. The supplier development programme under the CEEP involves Bank Gaborone funding and mentoring citizen-owned businesses to enable them to better participate in Debswana’s procurement budget. “The programme is targeted at creating opportunities for citizen-owned companies in the mining industry,” Keipidile told the recent launch of the CEEP in Francistown.

“Through this model, we want to develop the whole value chain of the equipment and services we use for mining in Debswana.