Before its closure in 2015, BCL Mine was the economic backbone of Selebi Phikwe and surrounding areas for decades.
Premium Nickel Resources Botswana (PNRB) Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) vice president, Shamil Agosi, said that entrepreneurs should reflect upon and analyse their businesses, which were greatly affected by the closure of BCL.
She was speaking this week at a five-day entrepreneurship development course held for the SPEDU region and attended by more than 50 businesses drawn from the area.
Agosi said industrialists must go beyond the duties of their jobs to penetrate the global market.
“Thriving global markets can be achieved by building partnerships between local entrepreneurs through collaboration in order to foster the growth of business networks,” she said. “PNRB has been very deliberate about supporting local SMMES for the development of their businesses through our commitment to entrepreneurship growth by engaging them as our suppliers and service providers in Selebi Phikwe.”
However, she revealed that several entrepreneurs had failed to meet the demand for quality and quantity when tenders were issued.
“This would not have been the case if they could have partnered with other local companies that offered the same services,” she said.
The PNRB ESG vice president encouraged business owners to reach out and benefit from all the government-provided incentives.
She stated that in contrast to other nations across the continent and the world in general, local entrepreneurs enjoy great privileges from government.
Speaking about the training programme, Agosi said PNRB’s goal is to provide business owners with the knowledge and attitude required to develop novel solutions and spark local economic growth.
She said the training would rekindle entrepreneurs’ enthusiasm, enabling SMMEs to serve as a centre of innovation for Selebi Phikwe.
“For instance entrepreneurs who harvest Mophane worms should come up with creative modifications to the product to increase its profitability and be able to be globally competitive,” she said.
Kgosi Molefi Pilane, location leader of local NGO, Selebi Phikwe Ikageleng, entrepreneurship training will aid SMMEs in expanding and competing in the domestic and international market.
He indicated there was a need for the youth, who form the majority of the population, to identify their specialities so that they could contribute to the expansion of the economy.
“Instead of being reliant on the government and criticising it, let us use this opportunity to learn and network so that what we learn here, we can put to use, grow our businesses and be competitive," he said.
