CEDA HOSTS THE BOTSWANA DEFENCE FORCE AND SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL WAR COLLEGE

CEDA HOSTS THE BOTSWANA DEFENCE FORCE AND SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL WAR COLLEGE

The Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) hosted the South African National War College through the Botswana Defence Force at CEDA on the 20^th of October 2016. The South African National War College consisting of a delegation of 60 officers were on a study tour of Botswana to:

• Obtain a geopolitical overview of Botswana in order to promote an understanding of its current and future role in the region.
• Understand the mandate of several public and private entities in Botswana tasked in boosting the economy of Botswana,
• Understand how CEDA promotes citizen economic empowerment.

Receiving the delegation was the CEDA Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Thabo Thamane and the Executive Management team namely the Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Andrew Madeswi and the Chief Financial Officer Ms. Tiny Ralefala. For the welcome remarks, Mr. Andrew Madeswi welcomed the delegation to both Botswana and CEDA. He said he had hoped that Batswana had received the delegation well and that the other entities they had visited had really imparted something worthwhile. He went on to explain that this was a very good year for Botswana as it celebrated 50 Years of Independence and had many achievements to mention. Mr. Madeswi also thanked the delegation for seeing it fit to visit CEDA and the Agency will always welcome engagements and visits of this nature.

The Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Thabo Thamane gave an in-depth overview of the Agency’s mandate and the significant role it has played in the economic development of Botswana. He went on to explain how CEDA has played a significant role in empowering Batswana through funding of viable and sustainable business projects. “CEDA has been in existence for 15 years and in those years it has played a significant role in addressing national priorities such as job creation and empowering Batswana through funding” Mr. Thamane also highlighted the fact that as a Development Financier CEDA ensures that funded clients are trained and mentored to ensure they are provided with the necessary skills to operate successful businesses in the long term. “The Agency places great emphasis on the development of Citizen owned businesses. We have an extensive network of 10 Client Service Centres nationwide and 2 recently launched mobile offices which cater for the North and South of Botswana”, said Thamane.

In his presentation Mr, Thamane made mention of the ways in which the Agency is constantly and consistently conducting research and product development to ensure they are providing Batswana with relevant and up to date financing solutions. “We recently launched a Micro-Financing product named Mabogo-Dinku, which is aimed at providing the micro entrepreneurs with financing to operate their small businesses”, said Thamane. The Agency had always felt that they were not able to finance the micro-entrepreneurs through the development fund hence the birth of Mabogo-Dinku. Mr. Thamane along with Mr. Madeswi explained how Mabogo-Dinku aimed to serve micro-lenders without having to go to unscrupulous micro-lenders at exorbitant interest rates.

Following the presentation the CEDA Executive Management Team fielded and elaborated on several questions from the delegation. Members of the delegation also expressed how impressed they were with the lengths that CEDA goes through to empower Batswana and provide training and mentoring to ensure the success of businesses. Mr. Thamane also encouraged the Botswana Defence force to continue to bring more delegates to CEDA. “CEDA is always looking for opportunities to impart knowledge on its mandate, products, services, milestones and challenges to people from all walks of life”

In her closing remarks the Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Ralefala thanked the delegation once again for taking the time to visit CEDA. “It is always rewarding to see that people from different parts of the world are taking notice of CEDA and have taken the time to visit and learn more about our mandate and our significant contribution to Botswana and Batswana” said Ms. Ralefala.

For any equiries or clarity regarding this article contact:

Name: Leatile Bakwena

Title: Communications Manager

Tel; +267 3991084

Cell: +267 72323286

email; lbakwena@ceda.co.bw