De Beers Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of the Republic of Botswana to underpin the growth of its Tokafala programme.
De Beers Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of the Republic of Botswana to underpin the growth of its Tokafala programme.
Nkata Seleka, founder of Sleek Foods, which has been supported by the Tokafala programme.
The MoU sets out principles for working together to continue expanding the Tokafala programme to support the growth of small, micro and medium-sized enterprises in Botswana.
It was signed by the Botswana Government, through its Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, and Anglo American (De Beers Group’s parent), Debswana and De Beers Global Sightholder Sales.
Balisi Bonyongo, Managing Director, Debswana, said: “We have been very pleased with the success of the Tokafala programme to date and look forward to the next phase of the programme, part of which will focus on Debswana’s mining sites. We believe this is critical as it adds enterprise and business development to the legacy that we would like to leave in the areas around our mines and across Botswana in general.”
Launched as a pilot in January 2014, the Tokafala partnership has created strong revenue growth, with participants boosting revenues by an average of 39 per cent in the first two years of Tokafala’s operation. Micro-sized businesses were the biggest beneficiaries, growing by an average of 260 per cent.
In addition, the programme has supported 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 secured from commercial sources.
Vincent T Seretse, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, said: “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.”
De Beers Group Chief Executive Bruce Cleaver said the partnership would help even more Botswana enterprises achieve commercial success through better market access, supply chains and access to finance.