Bottlenecks suffocate citizen empowerment efforts

As government is making efforts to deepen citizen economic empowerment in the resources sector, bottlenecks are still emerging.

The Botswana Resources Infrastructure Energy Forum ( BRIEF) held in the capital Gaborone recently and attended by over 250 captains of the mining and energy sector brought to light some of the barriers startup enterprise face in the resource sector.

Apart from the usual chorus of funding challenges faced by most entrepreneurs, there are several glaring gaps in the ecosystem of the citizen economic empowerment drive within the mining sector.

“Perfecting the system and removing the bottlenecks, creating more collaborations is the most ideal initiative at the moment,” said Head of Sales and Trade Finance at Access Bank Botswana, Onkemetse Monaatsie.

He said stakeholders in the resource sector – miners, financiers, equipment manufacturers and quality control authorities should strive to create a one stop shop to facilitate removing of the bottleneck faced by the entrepreneurs.

He also urged startups to partner with other organisations already competent in areas they want to venture into.

Adding her sentiments on the issue, Head of Enterprise and Supply Chain Development at Absa Bank Botswana, Kushatha Chilisa said there is need to understand Small, Medium Entrepreneurs’ ( SMEs) challenge to perform and honor contractual obligations. She said SMEs need to be hand- held and supported for their growth to avoid gaps in performing contracts as per agreements. Chilisa bemoaned that some of the entrepreneurs are joining the citizen economic empowerment bandwagon as tender- prenuers and looking beyond one project and sustaining their enterprise

“At Absa, we capacitate the SMEs to look beyond just one tender,” said Chilisa citing that citizen economic empowerment has potential prop up the country’s exports.

Meanwhile, consultant from Karob Consulting, Craig Robertson said citizen economic empowerment is the right thing to do.

“It makes good sense to have most of a company’s work done close by and cost effective,” said Roberston citing that clear communication why citizen economic empowerment is good should be well communicated across various stakeholders.

He also implored both miners and the entrepreneurs to celebrate success stories to inspire others.