BNPC calls for engagement with local companies

Lindiwe Mozola | Friday April 3, 2015 10:34

Speaking at a customer appreciation day held at BNPC Office in Francistown recently, BNPC marketing manager, Matlho Kgosi said that there is still a lot to be done in terms of improving productivity and efficiency in Botswana. 

She said the huge gap that needed to be filled in this regard was huge as it threatens the performance of the country in the World Global competitiveness rankings.

“With such reports at hand we therefore call upon organisations and companies to partner with BNPC for any of the diagnosis they have so that we can intensively train their staff which will go a long way in improving their service delivery,” she said.  Kgosi also said that Botswana remains lowly ranked when it comes to work ethics citing the Global Competitiveness world report.

She noted that the Botswana Quality Workforce Study, conducted by the University of Botswana, indicated that the most problem factor for doing business in Botswana is poor work ethic in the national workforce followed by inefficient government bureaucracy and access to finance. Kgosi further said education plays a key role in the workforce, although efforts to engage the Ministry of Education to include productivity as a lesson in the school curriculum was proving difficult to effect.

“It becomes difficult to improve the education system which continues to fail us, but the problem lies with the leaders who keep on following curriculum that does not yield results, we continue to have graduates that do not fit in the work environment,” she noted.

Kgosi also said BNPC in partnership with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, have implemented the private sector development programme in which they have selected 130 private entities for training, consultation and facilitating. She added that the programme offers consulting and training services in fields that range from supervisory development to quality management system.

BNPC general manager and also chairperson of the Global Competitiveness sub-Committee, Tebogo Kesupile, said companies should make effort to make changes in their approach to productivity. “We need to change the mindset of people who think that strong work ethics are not in our DNA.  We cannot afford to relax because we are competing with competitive countries and they will attract investors, which could have come to Botswana, and even our best people will go and work elsewhere. It is a serious matter,” she said.