VOTE OF THANKS BY THE CEDA BOARD CHAIRMAN AT THE CEDA/DBSA UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE PRIZE GIVING CEREMONY

Director of Ceremonies,

Your Honour, the Vice President of the Republic of Botswana, Mr. Mokgweetsi E.K Masisi,

Cabinet Ministers;

Honourable Members of Parliament;

All Dikgosi;

Your Worship the Mayor of Gaborone City Kagiso Thutlwe;

All Permanent Secretaries;

Members of the CEDA Board of Directors;

Chief Executive Officer of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Mr Patrick Dlamini,

CEO, CEDA Mr Thabo Thamane;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

Good Evening.

1.     Firstly, let me convey my sincere gratitude and a special thanks to His Honour the Vice President of the Republic of Botswana, Mr. Mokgweetsi E.K Masisi for finding time to be with us to award the winning entry of this competition. May I also extend my sincere gratitude to the Chief Executive Officer of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Mr. Patrick Dlamini for ideation of the University Challenge. And to all dignitaries here present I thank you for honouring our invitation to this prestigious event. Re a leboga bagaetsho.

2.     Your attendance today demonstrates your commitment to finding solutions to the challenges that we face as a nation and today culminates an exciting journey that we started in June when we launched the Challenge.

3.     Director of Ceremonies, the CEDA Secretariat worked tirelessly to market the Challenge to students of the participating institutions to ensure that they clearly understood the scope of the Challenge. It is through this intense marketing campaign that the Secretariat received hundreds of applications proposing a variety of solutions to the country’s challenges.

4.     Ladies and Gentlemen, the youth of today are full of ideas that when properly nurtured and implemented could contribute positively to prosperity and wealth creation for all. It is therefore, through competitive initiatives such as this one that we can identify and unearth these ideas. The University Challenge is not only about the prize money for the contestants but it is an opportunity for Government and the private sector to carry these ideas through for possible implementation. 

5.     Director of Ceremonies, CEDA as a champion of entrepreneurship in Botswana is proud to have implemented this inaugural Challenge. It is my believe that we will continue with this noble work for years to come and nurture the lives of the participants ideas and that through their breakthrough solutions we will be able to change the lives of many in Botswana for the better.

6.     Director of Ceremonies my task today was to give the Vote of Thanks and by this, I would like to once again thank His Honour, the Vice President, Honourable Minister of Investment Trade and Industry for the continued support of our mandate, the DBSA and CEDA Board and Management and Distinguished Guests for honouring our invitation today.

7.     Bagaetsho, Thank you.

PULA