FRANCISTOWN: Botswana’s cooperative movement comprises consumer cooperatives, agricultural marketing and supplies cooperatives, savings and credit cooperatives, producer cooperatives and thrift and loan cooperatives.
Cooperatives had and continue to help Batswana in various ways.
They help people in rural communities to gain employment opportunities, boost food production, empower the marginalised, especially women, and promote social cohesion and integration thereby improving their livelihoods and reducing poverty. Of these different types of cooperatives, the savings and credit are now the most prevalent in Botswana.
The economic impact of some of the other types of cooperatives are mixed as can be attested by the Minister of Entrepreneurship, Karabo Gare, when giving a keynote address during the commemoration of the CoopsDay recently. Gare’s sentiments are echoed by Motshwari Mashabani and Smarts Shabani, vice chairperson of Botswana Cooperative Association (BOCA) and chairperson of Francistown Multi-purpose Cooperative Association respectively.
The trio mention under capitalisation, mismanagement and fraud, poor attraction and retention of skilled employees; inadequate member commitment and participation, amongst others as some problems that led some cooperatives to under-perform.
To mitigate these challenges, Gare explained, in 2011 the Cooperative Transformation Strategy was developed as a cooperative blueprint that paved way to any business to be registered as a viable cooperative entity and also gradually shifting from registering traditional cooperatives only, to registration of non-traditional cooperatives in the sectors of production and manufacturing.
Equally important, Gare added: “The Cooperative Training Centre at Sebele was also upgraded at a cost of P67 million to accommodate training of cooperative leadership, employees and members in new areas of cooperative entrepreneurship.”
Mashabani and Shabani also say that the emergence of multinational chain stores in Botswana have compounded the woes of the other types of cooperatives.
The movement has since grown with about 300 multi-spectral registered cooperatives and over 500,000 members, said Gare during the CoopsDay commemoration. While that may be the case, there are numerous unregistered savings and credit cooperatives operating throughout the country which are commonly known as Metshelo in the vernacular.
These types of Metshelo come in different forms. Metshelo refer to a cooperative concept whereby members contribute equal amounts of money and on a revolving basis, each member is given. Some cooperatives allow members to contribute and allow the same members to borrow with interest and after a specified time, the total amount is then shared amongst members who use the money to start businesses. With Botswana gearing to celebrate the CoopsDay on July 30 in Maun under the theme, “Cooperatives Build a Better World”, gone are the days when cooperatives were referred as clubs of old people especially women. Mashabani told Mmegi that it is imperative to make cooperatives all-encompassing movements that also cater for the youth in order to demystify the belief that cooperatives are/or were an old people’s club.
