Our story
Overview of partnerships
CEDA has signed several Memorandums of Understanding with various organizations within Botswana and the region. To name a few, CEDA has MOUs with the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB), Botswana Horticultural Market (BHM), Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa, Development Bank of Namibia, and Botswana Post. The agency recently signed Memorandums of Understanding with the Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research in Malaysia and the Botswana Institute for Research and Innovation.
Partnership with
Botswana Horticultural Market
The purpose of this agreement is for both parties to assist their mutual clients. Through this MOU, CEDA and BHM aim to develop partnerships between producers and other key stakeholders to enhance the development and growth of the horticultural industry, develop networking opportunities whereby stakeholders can devise ways to introduce marketing initiatives aimed at increasing profitability for local producers, and establish a reliable and growing horticultural market for enterprises.
Partnership with
Botswana Post
Due to the CEDA branch network being situated only in Gaborone, Maun, Selebi-Phikwe, Palapye, Kanye, Francistown, and Ghanzi, CEDA entered into an MOU with Botswana Postal Services, which has a wider branch network. This gives CEDA clients in remote areas the opportunity to continue business with CEDA. This MOU allows clients to pay their accounts and collect funds at any Botswana Post office in the country. Clients without access to CEDA branches can use the postal service network. Benefits include Botswana Post assisting CEDA in disseminating brochures and other marketing collateral in all their branches nationwide, providing hybrid bulk mailing solutions by printing and mailing CEDA statements to all CEDA clients, and providing CEDA with express mail service for documents and parcels.
Partnership with
Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board
CEDA and BAMB entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to assist in the development of the agricultural sector through the provision of funding, training, and mentoring to viable citizen agricultural businesses and projects. As agribusiness is one of CEDA’s sectors, it is in the agency’s best interest to form linkages with institutions like BAMB. The benefits of this MOU are to assist farmers in minimizing the risk associated with defaulting on loan repayments to CEDA as a financier, reduce transaction costs for the agency through shared project visits, ensure a reliable supply of grain from farmers to BAMB, and guarantee a market for inputs for BAMB. Through the agreement, farmers will have easier and timely access to working capital, an assured market for produce under contract production, market advisory services, and discounts on inputs.
Partnership with
Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research
The Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research (CEDAR) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SME Bank, established in 2013 to complement the developmental role of SME Bank. CEDAR aspires to be a center of excellence for entrepreneur development and transformation. Its mission is to continuously develop the capability of entrepreneurs to sustain their growth in support of the national economic agenda. Today, SME Bank stands out as the only Malaysian development financial institution with a subsidiary like CEDAR. Applying the concept of business coaching and engagement, the center conducts research-based coaching, function-based facilitation, and entrepreneur-focused mentoring. Programs undertaken by CEDAR are unique, with an identity that defines the group’s slogan of "beyond financing," championed by the bank. The scope of the MOU between CEDA and CEDAR includes cooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as sharing and utilizing their respective institutional experiences, knowledge, and relevant information to improve service deliveries in their countries of operation (including developmental impact/sustainability reports, business sustainability models, lending and equity investment policies and frameworks, and any other areas of mutual interest), business support and mentoring services, capacity building in areas like due diligence and loan appraisal, deal structuring, debt and equity portfolio monitoring, risk management, client relationship support services, product development, and research, as well as secondment and/or attachments for staff of the parties.
Partnership with
Botswana Institute of Research and Innovation
The Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA), in partnership with the Botswana Institute of Research and Innovation (BITRI), has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to seek ways in which both parties can beneficially fulfill their respective mandates. The aim of this MOU is to establish a framework for collaboration on the commercialization of BITRI’s research and development (R&D) output. The scope of the MOU includes, but is not limited to, joint activities such as collaboration in the commercialization of output from BITRI R&D projects, screening and approval of prospective licensees and assignees of BITRI technologies for possible funding, and funding, training, mentoring, and imparting entrepreneurial skills and competencies to BITRI, its affiliated organizations, and subsidiaries to transform them into sustainable enterprises that contribute meaningfully toward Botswana’s economic growth and development. In this MOU, BITRI is largely responsible for assessing the commercial feasibility of research and development output made by BITRI researchers, ICT associates, and affiliated organizations, producing business plans and business cases for the commercialization of BITRI research outputs/technologies for consideration of funding by CEDA, and assessing projects and business plans for business viability prior to submission to CEDA. In support of BITRI, CEDA is responsible for assessing projects and business plans for business viability prior to funding and commercialization, financing commercialization aspects of BITRI research, ICT associates, and development projects, providing guidance in the drafting of sound business plans and cases, and training and mentoring of funded projects
Memberships That Matter
Memberships
CEDA is part of powerful African networks driving capacity, training, and impact.
Southern African Development Community Development Finance Resource Centre (SADC DFRC)
By being a member of the SADC DFRC network, CEDA positions itself to tap into a variety of training resources and information from other institutions within Botswana and the SADC region at large. SADC DFRC is a SADC institution established under the SADC Principle of Subsidiarity. It is collectively "owned" through a trust by the SADC-DFI network as its "self-help" organization. Through technical and capacity-building support, as well as policy research and advisory services, the DFRC’s mandate is to promote the effective mobilization of resources by the financial sector, particularly DFIs, for investment in key areas with the potential to stimulate growth, generate employment, and alleviate poverty, in line with the objectives of SADC under RISDP. The key focal areas identified in its five-year strategic business plan are financial sector reforms, strengthening, and capital markets development, institutional support encompassing capacity building, SME development and support, and infrastructure and public-private partnerships (PPP).
Association of African Development Financial Institutions (AADFI)
CEDA has membership in the Association of African Development Financial Institutions (AADFI). The AADFI is a continental institution that provides financial institutions with training support and capacity building for key personnel of member organizations. The key objectives of AADFI are to promote economic and social development in Africa through cooperation among banks and financial institutions, stimulate cooperation for the financing of economic and social development, establish among its members a mechanism for the systematic interchange of information, accelerate the process of economic integration in the African region, and encourage studies realization bearing on common interest problems.
Built for Impact
Strategic Principles
A number of key principles guided the formulation of CEDA’s strategic plan for the period 2018-2021. These were considered crucial elements for the development of the agency’s strategic foundations and intent.
SMME development
CEDA’s primary mandate is to support the development of the SMME sector through debt and equity financing, as well as the provision of relevant training and mentoring services that enable capacity building. These are aimed at supporting the growth and stability of an entrepreneurial culture within Botswana. The SMME sector is also viewed as a major growth area for innovation and establishing Botswana as a country that is able to compete regionally while satisfying local demand for goods and services.
Transformative strategy
Given the length of time that CEDA has been operating within the DFI sector, the strategy must now take a transformative form that positions the agency as a center of excellence for SMME development, characterized by talented people, innovation, and a focus on results.
Sustainability and growth
CEDA should focus on enhancing sustainability and growth, growing its talent and culture, building strong strategic alliances, developing research capabilities, and driving innovation.
Technology and innovation
Key emphasis must be placed on driving the use of technology and innovation as a means to effectively support critical business processes. Embedded in this is institutionalizing Business Process Management (BPM) as a framework of continuous process and service improvement aimed at positioning CEDA as a model DFI in the region. This is seen as a key aspect of CEDA’s transformational agenda.
Impact of CEDA’s strategy
To this end, the residual impact of CEDA’s strategy is to ensure the development and emergence of a sustainable, innovative, and competitive SMME sector that adds substantial value to job creation, economic growth, and diversification.
