Citizens key in fuel industry growth
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday August 8, 2023 06:00
One such citizen enterprise, S&S Petroleum, was launched last Thursday, with city mayor, Godisang Radisigo, presiding. “The petroleum industry is a key driver of our economy.
It drives key industries such as mining, transport, logistics and manufacturing. “As such, fuel security is an imperative for the country. Our geographical position as a landlocked country presents some challenges as we have to rely on imports and in-land storage facilities as well as retail sites to ensure that the wheels of our economy keep turning,” he said.
The mayor said S&S Petroleum was therefore making a contribution to the key economic sector and contributing to government’s aspirations of making fuel security a reality for Botswana. In 2020, Botswana was faced with a severe shortage of fuel due to supply challenges in South Africa, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 lockdown. Botswana receives most of its fuel from South Africa, a risk government has been fighting to alleviate through diversification of routes and sources of supply.
The shortages in 2020 resulted in panic buying amongst some consumers, prompting the government to tap into its strategic reserves and source fuel from alternative suppliers in the region such as Namibia and Mozambique. Radisigo also expressed gratitude to Vivo Energy, who are the supply partners of S&S Petroleum. “I want to thank Vivo Energy for its efforts in creating meaningful partnerships with citizen companies and transforming this sector,” the Mayor said. “As I understand it, this is not an easy sector to break into, as it requires heavy capital investment and reliable supply.
“Therefore, I believe that your partnership with S&S Petroleum will go a long way in helping this local brand to grow.” S&S Petroleum, founded and run by oil industry veteran, Boitumelo Sekwababe and his wife, is a citizen enterprise with 14 employees, most of whom are young. Sekwababe spent 24 years as Shell Botswana’s chairman and has since taken his experience to the latest entrepreneurial effort launched here.
Giving a history of the company, Sekwababe said S&S Petroleum started in 2020 and was self-financed in the initial stages. “We later approached the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and they agreed to fund the rest of the project,” he said. “We had challenges along the way such as COVID-19 and construction delays. “We, however, managed to overcome these and finally opened on August 24, 2022 and started partnering with Vivo Energy as our fuel suppliers,” Sekwababe explained.