At least 110 local suppliers offering a variety of products and services gathered at Wilderness’ offices in Maun, where the tourism group also had other partners such as government departments, parastatals and banks present to guide the citizen enterprises.
Speaking at the event, OWS chair, Kabelo Binns revealed that contracts worth P1 million had been arranged during the Expo, signalling the event’s potential for unlocking greater value for suppliers and their value chains.
“I am pleased to share that we have already been working enhance our local procurement, and just today confirmed contracts of up to P1m. “These are all majority citizen owned businesses, employing Batswana who work hard to contribute to our economy. “Their products range from yoghurts to beverages, cleaning chemicals to preservatives and transport to upholstery,” he said.
The Expo was part of OWS efforts to enhance its impact on the local community by boosting its procurement from local suppliers and enhancing the national priorities of citizen enterprise and value chain development.
In the ten years to 2023, OWS’ spent P1.3 billion procuring goods and services from local suppliers, while its rate of local procurement averaged 85% over that period.
OWS caretaker manager, Joe Matome, said the Expo would be followed by workshops for eligible suppliers to help align on expectations and quality standards, as well as to support collaborative growth.
He said Wilderness’ partners such as the commercial banks, National Development Bank, Local Enterprise Authority and the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency, were on board to guide local suppliers.
“Along with the Mindset Change team, Pusha BW and BITC, they are here to affirm their support to help these exhibitors grow and scale their businesses to serve not only Wilderness and not only Botswana, but other organisations and other markets,” Matome said.
For his part, Entrepreneurship Ministry permanent secretary, Kabelo Ebineng, said the Expo was an ideal platform to re-energise value chains, forge connections, share knowledge and foster partnerships to propel the local economy forward.
He urged participants to aim towards being part of an export-led economy.
“Let us take up the value chain opportunities that are presented by the Local Supplier Expo today. “Leave here with a business idea and work on it. “We can even go ahead and build cooperatives to increase production using technology to improve efficiency and productivity,” Ebineng said.
Kushatha Chilisa, Stanbic Bank Botswana Head of Citizen Economic Empowerment Programme, said the bank was working on easing SMEs access to finance, a frequently cited hindrance for many small businesses.
“We know access to finance is also a challenge,” she said. “We ask for audited financials or three years financials, we ask for tax clearing, we ask for security which are big barriers. “We have looked at this also given the Citizen Economic Inclusion Act and positioned ourselves to partner with yourselves for growth where there is a need for funding and one has an order or contract availed. “We look forward to engaging with you all and partnering with you, for your growth.”
Wilderness officials said the group intends to make the Expo an annual event.
