Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) was created by Botswana Government with the specific mandate of entrepreneurship and enterprise development.
LEA mandate extends to growing of exports and also assisting with establishing linkages between SMEs and big businesses that are crucial not only in growing SME market share but also in the development of a vibrant SME and the informal sectors.
When I arrived at LEA my first task together with my team was to make an overall assessment of the systems – our people, our reputation and our brand.
We reached a conclusion that we needed to go beyond just the business plans that we receive and also look at the overall impact that a business could have on the local economy, on employment creation and on its contribution to the country’s GDP.
To run a successful and modern economy, one needs data for planning and decision making hence we are moving towards getting all SMEs registered and building a data and knowledge bank.
As a country it is absolutely important that we develop our local communities and local economies through commerce. Local economies, if properly developed ultimately become feeders to national economies.
It is thus of paramount importance that we get the local economies right. SMEs and the informal sectors are best placed instruments to achieve just that.
The two biggest challenges facing Botswana have got to be unemployment and economic diversification.
As a country we still need to get the value chain correct, especially in the agriculture and mining sectors. Mining and agriculture hold the biggest potential to diversify the economy and get many of the people, especially the youth employed.
To develop these two sectors technology, innovation and funding will be key.
In the mining sector for example, Batswana have licenses and requisite skills for certain services, but lack of capital to set up. And without doubt, Batswana have the technical expertise needed to deliver services in the mining sector.
We live in an era where technology and innovations move at lightning speed, hence it is important that our universities are focused on producing real industry technology.
That is why at LEA we are driven by innovation.
Currently our informal sector ecosystem is somewhat less coherent *but with great potential. And technology and innovation can harness coherence, market access, efficiency, and networking among other benefits.
SMEs stand to benefit immensely from more innovation. Innovation and entrepreneurship are synonymous. The two are critical for any business. Both of them bring about something new. It’s all about efficiencies and improvement. Without innovation, businesses become stagnant. We need leaders in our organizations to have a vision of where they want to take their organisations, and how to do that innovatively.
SME development is not an event. It is a long process that requires commitment and focus.
As LEA we have had a big impact on the SMEs and the informal sector, because of our highly tailored interventions.
We have worked on growing capacity and on enhancing quality across the SME and informal sectors.
If you take the retail sector, for example. we have worked on ensuring that products from citizen companies are able to enter the shelves of chain shops *and supply big corporates.
Clearly we are focused in making LEA a model parastatal. And the trajectory is already beginning to show.
We are of the view that citizen economic empowerment requires relentless lobbying, changing mindsets, expanding networks, creating value through our SMEs and constantly evaluating development programs for impact.
And it is going to be tough and rough *in some instances.”
