De Beers, Anglo American sign MoU to propel Botswanan economy and growth

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed to underpin the expansion of a Botswanan economic diversification programme.

The MoU was signed by the Botswana Government, through the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, as well as Anglo American, Debswana and De Beers Global Sightholder Sales, to support the development of the Tokafala Enterprise Development Programme.

The Tokafala Enterprise Development Programme

Through a major collaborative effort, the Tokafala programme is designed to promote economic diversification and job creation in Botswana through personalised business mentoring, advisory support tailored to the specific needs of the enterprise, and facilitating access to finance and market for clients.

The programme was launched as a pilot in January 2014, and has already delivered significant performance improvements for participating businesses, including strong revenue growth by an average of 39 per cent in the first two years of Tokafala’s operation.

Micro-sized businesses also saw significant growth through the programme, growing by an average of 260%.

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On the job creation front, Tokafala has generated more than 1,500 jobs, including the direct creation of more than 280 jobs. Participants have also received significantly improved access to finance, with more than BWP11 million being accessed from commercial sources.

The Memorandum of Understanding

The MoU establishes principles of cooperation under which the partners will work together to continue expanding the Tokafala programme to support the growth of small, micro and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in Botswana, as well as for capacity building of select Government enterprise development institutions.

Vincent T Seretse, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our very successful partnership with Anglo American, De Beers Global Sightholder Sales and Debswana to further expand the reach and impact of the Tokafala Business Development Initiative through the signing of this MoU.

“The further diversification of Botswana’s economy and the creation of new jobs for Batswana is a key priority for Government. We are delighted to have the support of our valued private sector partners Anglo American, Debswana and De Beers Global Sightholder Sales to assist us in achieving these goals and we look forward to growing the already successful Tokafala programme together.”

Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: “As longstanding partners, Botswana’s interests are also our interests and, through this MoU, our partnership will be able to support even more Botswana enterprises achieve commercial success through improved market access, supply chains and access to finance.”