Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0046/00460.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 21KB | 422 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00460}
$Pretitle{404}
$Title{Botswana
Chapter 3.    Industry, Banking and Finance}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Cecilia Gautier}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Botswana, Washington DC}
$Subject{botswana
training
per
cent
bank
industrial
development
new
areas
mines}
$Date{1988}
$Log{}
Country:     Botswana
Book:        Botswana Review of Commerce and Industry 1988
Author:      Cecilia Gautier
Affiliation: Embassy of Botswana, Washington DC
Date:        1988

Chapter 3.    Industry, Banking and Finance

The Department of Industrial Affairs

     The Department of Industrial Affairs is engaged in a wide spectrum of
activities, with the objective of developing and promoting the industrial
sector and creating employment opportunities.

     Batswana are encouraged to participate at all levels within all areas
of industry, the emphasis being on the growth of local industries. The
Department is divided into the following five sections:

MANAGEMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT

     - Responsibility for manpower resources.

     - Staff development at all levels a high priority.

POLICIES AND PROGRAMME CO-ORDINATION

     - Establishes national industrialisation policies.

     - Formulates operational guidelines for the industrial sector, including
technology research and development.

     - The Project Research Unit identifies, prepares and appraises industrial
projects, assists investors, performs pre-feasibility studies and provides
advice to the licensing committee.

LICENSING AND PROTECTION

     - Promotes establishment of industrial activities.

     - Protects local design and technology development.

     - Ensures that licenses issued are within policy guidelines, through
efficient screening processes.

INDUSTRIALISATION SUPPORT MECHANISMS

     - The Financial Assistance Policy (FAP), to create employment and
diversify the economy.

     - The Local Preference Scheme, to channel purchases by government, local
authorities and parastatals to local manufacturers.

     - The Industrial Infrastructure Unit establishes landbanks of serviced
industrial plots in towns and villages.

INTEGRATED FIELD SERVICES (IFS)

     Former Botswana Enterprises Development Unit (BEDU), Rural Industrial
Officers Cadre (RIO) and Business Advisory Services (BAS).

     - IFS assists and trains entrepreneurs, in all districts, from `start to
business' by offering the following: technical training, business management
training, advisory services, FAP application assistance, marketing assistance
and common workshop facilities.

     - Technology transfer, with an emphasis on know-how, is realised through
joint-venture projects pursued and assisted by IFS.

     - Income-generating projects in the remote rural areas are launched by
IFS, e.g.

     - A leather tannery project in the southern region resulted in local
tanneries adapted to the needs of rural areas.

     - A handicraft project in Ngamiland, in the north-western region,
provides a basic source of income for the Basarwa people, known world-wide as
'Bushmen', whose chances of continuing in their earlier nomadic-hunting life
is rapidly diminishing.

Land of INDUSTRY Opportunity

     Botswana has an open trade-oriented economy and a strong infrastructure
to facilitate economic growth, such as a tax structure favourable to
investors, with a 40 per cent rate of company tax, the lowest in the Customs
Union Area, a highly sophisticated system of business communications, and
good road, rail and air links.

     There are many customs preferences for foreign investors, who, in any
export drive, may take advantage of trading partners who impose little or no
duties on Botswana goods. The Lome Convention allows duty-free access to the
EEC, and the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC)
gives entry to Southern Africa. Substantial concessions have been made with
the USA and European countries outside the EEC, under the Generalised System
of Preferences. Botswana also belongs to the South African Customs Union.

     In terms of the National Development Plan 6 (NDP6), the Government
continues to encourage foreign investment, will offer increased citizen
participation in many enterprises, will diversify the economy by the
introduction of new skills and will stimulate job opportunities, especially
in the rural areas, as the main industries still predominate around the four
major towns of Gaborone, Francistown, Selebi-Phikwe and Lobatse.

     The creation of job opportunities is of prime importance, as the
population is increasing at a rate of 3,5 per cent per annum. A study carried
out in 1979 during the International Year of the Child indicated that
approximately 4 000 children are leaving school per annum with secondary
education, 10 000 with some primary education and 5 000 with little or no
education. Accepting the above figures, 20 000 employment opportunities are
required annually. It is estimated, however, that approximately 30 per cent
of this number is being achieved.

BOTSWANA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

     The Botswana Development Corporation is the primary development and
investment parastatal organisation in the country. Incorporated in 1970, it
identifies opportunities in industry, commerce and agriculture and then
participates in the equity of promising new ventures.

     BDC plans to invest P100 million during NDP6. This is a substantial
increase over the P26 057 000 invested in the country during NDP5, of which 21
per cent was in commercial and industrial property, 25 per cent in hotels and
tourism, 15 per cent in agriculture, 14 per cent in commerce and industry, 11
per cent in transport, 10 per cent in residential property, 2 per cent in
financial services and 2 per cent in small-scale enterprises.

     BDC investment policies are always in line with the current development
plan. Preference is now given to ventures which are export oriented, diversify
the base of the economy, generate employment, give new skills, contribute to
the rural economy and provide a substitute for imports.

     Industrial land is available from the state in urban areas and from
Tribal Land Boards in other areas on terms similar to 50-year leases. Any
company, whether foreign or locally owned, can acquire this land and erect
buildings, with or without BDC help.

     BDC also plans to ensure an adequate supply of low-cost shops and factory
units of all sizes. It is hoped that sectional title deeds will be introduced
to facilitate property purchase.

     In an attempt to achieve a more equitable redistribution of wealth from
this expanding economy, the Sechaba Investment Fund enables citizens to
invest in BDC companies and a share series has been set up. A stock exchange
may be established in the future.

SMALL-SCALE BUSINESSES BOOSTED

     Tswelelo, established in 1984 as a joint venture by BDC, the National
Development Bank and FMO, has helped to establish many small entrepreneurs
and is playing a significant role in rural areas. PFP (Partnership for
Productivity) is specially geared to establishing small-scale businesses
within the home for people with little formal education, while Botswanacraft
organises and sells local craftwork and has built up a significant export
market.

     The Department of Industrial Affairs is engaged in a wide spectrum of
activities to create employment. Botswana are encouraged to participate at all
levels in all areas of industry. The Department's  Integrated Field Services
assists and trains entrepreneurs and generates income in rural areas, such as
a tannery project in the south of Botswana and a new handicraft project in
Ngamiland, which specialises in Bushman artefacts, since the possibility of
these people continuing their earlier nomadic hunting life is rapidly
diminishing.

     TIPA (Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) promotes Botswana and all
her products, whether originating from large industrial corporations or from
rural householders. It organises promotion missions and trade f