BTCL REWARDS HAWKERS

BTC is supporting SMMEs

Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited has rewarded its hawkers in recognition of their input in driving the corporation’s sales.

Through its hawkers’ challenge competition, BTCL gave away a Hyundai bakkie to one of the hawkers among the nine finalists.Each hawker was supposed to grow his or her sales by up to 50 percent in a month. The competition ran from March to December last year and in each month, five winners were selected and P15 000 worth of airtime was distributed amongst them.

Evelyn Metlhaleng from Rasesa walked away with the car. She has been operating as a hawker for about 15 years. She said since the competition was launched, she worked hard and sold a lot of BTC’s Nthope airtime, selling over P2000 worth of airtime weekly.

BTCL Acting General Manager Consumer Sales, said they recognize the role of the informal sector in improving the economy and livelihoods of communities they operate in. “These entrepreneurs moreoften toil in harsh climate conditions to make ends meet, in the meantime selling BTC airtime.”

She said the role of the informal sector in the economic growth and job creation is recognized all over the world due to their significant contribution to their communities and Botswana is not an exception. ”BTCL is a business that links directly with communities it operates in. As a compassionate business commemorating 40 years, we wanted to celebrate by giving back to the community.” On his note, BTCL Head of Indirect Sales, Ephraim Tlogelang said hawkers drive 60 percent of BTCL distribution. “We want to empower them and encourage them to work harder as this helps them grow their business and generate income for themselves,” he said.