CEEP was established in 2019 to reinforce Debswana's 'Building Forever Strategy'. Through the strategy, the mine has sought to procure more of its goods and services from citizen producers and suppliers, while developing supplier development programmes to empower them.
Through the programme, Debswana had set a goal to empower businesses with a value of P20 billion and create 20,000 jobs by 2024. As of April this year, the initiative had reached P19.5 billion in citizen spend, achieving 97% of the target, and had created 16,989 jobs.
Speaking at a dinner organised for National Business Conference (NBC) delegates in Francistown on Tuesday, Motsomi said that there are local companies that have now resorted to fronting instead of directly reaping the benefits of CEEP.
When CEEP started Debswana strongly cautioned citizens against fronting.
“It is also evident that there are instances of potential fronting by citizen entities which include ceding in and delegating contracts without Debswana’s consent, particularly to non-citizens,” he said. “This is something that has just come to light recently. “We have noticed what is basically a predominant phenomenon across the economy. “Batswana tend to pursue rent-seeking instead of long-term investment as entrepreneurs.
Motsomi promised that Debswana would come up with necessary interventions to counter fronting. He added that one of the emerging challenges that has come up during the implementation of the CEEP is the sustainability of suppliers’ business ventures primarily due to their overreliance on Debswana as a customer.
“This situation calls for the private sector to invest in value chain development to ensure sustainable businesses and greater value addition,” he said.
Motsomi added that the Botswana Mine Workers Union (BMWU) has also raised concerns about the conduct of some of Debswana’s direct business partners or suppliers.
“I had an opportunity to talk to the president of BMWU who had paid a courtesy call on me and he did bring up this point, to say that some of our supplier companies are not abiding by the rules and regulations that are stipulated not only in labour laws but also in our contracts. “This clearly remains a concern,” he said, adding that Debswana will work with close stakeholders to put corrective measures in place.
In April, BMWU president Joseph Tsimako, when speaking at the Union’s National Executive Committee statutory meeting, said that CEEP has exacerbated problems in the mining sector and has significantly contributed to plummeting labour standards in the sector. He added that retrenchments are becoming all too common.
“Many big mining operations are privatising and outsourcing their services. The CEEP, which was intended to create jobs, is failing Batswana. It has created more problems than it has solved, especially in the supply chains,” Tsimako said.
