LEA was established by the Small Business Act of 2004 as a statutory authority but only started operations in 2007. Its key sectors are manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and services. “From humble beginnings, LEA has evolved as a brand which is now part of the business landscape in Botswana in nurturing entrepreneurship and enterprise development,” said LEA chief executive, Tebogo Matome during the launch of the authority’s third strategy in Gaborone this week. He stated that the organisation is undergoing a paradigm shift to provide cost effective, targeted interventions that address the needs of SMMEs. “Entrepreneurship is the engine of growth for any economy and the only sustainable manner in which employment can increase and the economy can grow is by increasing the number of businesses and allowing entrepreneurship to grow,” he said.
After it was established in 2007, LEA designed a strategy that focused on agriculture, manufacturing, services and tourism. Later, it developed another strategy from 2010-2014 covering four sub-sectors; piggery, horticulture, dairy and leather that would be developed through the value chain approach.
