THABO THAMANE, CEO Private Bag 00504 Gaborone Tel: 3170895 Fax:3909752 www.ceda.co.bw

1. PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN BOTSWANA: CHALLENGES AND SUCCESS STORIESAFRICAN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP SYSTEMS SUPPORT WORKSHOPBIUST, PALAPYE26 NOVEMBER 2013

2. THABO THAMANE, CEO • Private Bag 00504 • Gaborone • Tel: 3170895 • Fax:3909752 • www.ceda.co.bw

3. Outline • Entrepreneurship defined • Promoting Entrepreneurship • Global Perspective • African and Regional View • Botswana • Interventions taken • Challenges • Successes • Conclusion

4. Definition: • Entrepreneurship: • a process of identifying and starting a business venture, sourcing and organizing the required resources and taking both the risks and rewards associated with the venture (bing). • Entrepreneur: Risk-taking person • Somebody who finances new commercial enterprises (Encarta dictionary – UK English) The term was first used in 1723 borrowed from French.

5. The Entrepreneurship Build Up

7. Promoting Entrepreneurship: Legislation and Policies – Global Perspective • Botswana became a member of WTO on 31 May 1995. • The WTO established a Reference Centre in Botswana on 4 April 2013 • Why: • Botswana and her Citizenry are residents and traders in the Global Village • Trade regulations that support and/or govern conditions of trade internationally affect this country and its entrepreneur community.

8. Promoting Entrepreneurship – Global Perspective cont. • National Trade Policy (2009) themed ‘Industrialisation, Diversification and Export Development for Global Competitiveness’, provides for entrepreneurship growth on an international platform. • More policies are developed to promote business growth in this country. e.g. The Citizen Economic Empowerment Policy (CEEP) of 2012. This policy promotes ability of citizens to own, manage and participate in the economy of the country. • It facilitates a more rapid expansion of the private sector, thus reducing reliance on government by businesses. e.g. shares reserved for citizens when privatising public entities.

9. Promoting Entrepreneurship – African and Regional View • Botswana is a signatory to several regional trade agreements: • AGOA, SADC, SACU, Free Trade with Malawi and Zimbabwe

10. ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGES - BOTSWANA ref: http://www.enterprisesurveys.org Enterprise Surveys: BOTSWANA - 2010 4

11. Challenges Cont. • Recession: The curb in spending by government undertaken during the 2008 recession and thereafter, adversely affects the performance of enterprises in the economy. We have observed that historically enterprises in the Botswana economy were heavily dependent on government. • Skills: Botswana entrepreneurs have been ranked highly with respect to optimism; and ranked low with respect to innovativeness and creativity, foresight and competitiveness. (ref: Botswana Journal of Business Vol 6 No. 1 2013)

12. Entrepreneurship in Botswana: Success Stories • Botswana had the highest rate of per-capita growth of any country in the world in the first 35 years from independence. (An African Success Story: Botswana (July 2001, by Acemoglu, et al). • This was mainly influenced by: • Good governance • Rich mining resources (diamonds) • Minimal influence from pre-colonial government

13. Success Stories: The case of CEDA

14. Products

15. Sectoral Focus • CEDA focuses on four broad sectors • Agribusiness • Property • Manufacturing • Services

16. Levels of Assistance Level of assistance cumulative as at end March 2013; • Collectively the funds have assisted 5197projects worth P3,394 billion • Funded projects are estimated to employ 30 791 people when fully functional.

17. Conclusion • Botswana government has done well in terms of realising and acting on the need for promoting entrepreneurship • Examples arepolicies and interventions in place • However, the following remain relevant challenges to mitigate: • Skills base • Land access • Infrastructure • Licenses and Permits

18. Thank you