SEBOANA PRODUCTS

HONOURING THE MILLING QUEENS

The tradition of transitional leadership is one very unique to our republic, not only do we see it in government but also in business. The Maribe family is one that has embraced the tradition and have been successful at it. From one queen to another the milling business kept taking shape and form up to what it is to date.

Located about 30 kilometres from the capital city of Gaborone in Mochudi, a village known to be the capital of the Bakgatla tribe lies a milling company known by many as 'SEBOANA'. Seboana is a product name of Mogotsi Morekwe Mills. Mogotsi Morekwe Mills is a business name trading under TOM PTY (LTD) company registered under the laws of Botswana with existence of over 29 years.

The Managing Director Mathudi Maribe shares more about her family business…

Tell us about the name SEBOANA. What inspired it and why Seboana?

Seboana came about when my mother asked around what we should call our product so people started throwing names and we finally settled for Seboana. The name SEBOANA resonates with traditional farmers. Seboana means a threshing floor. Before the introductions of modern mills sorghum used to be placed on a flat surface and we would thresh it with sticks.

How did this company begin, kindly share the company's origins?

The over 29 year old company was first started by my mother after she retired as a teacher, she wanted do something to keep her busy and also assist  Bakgatla women to mill as they had to travel long distances to the only available mill by the time.

In 1990 my mother, Morekwe Maribe out of the goodness of her heart  used her retirement package to buy two sets of milling equipment as a stop gap measure to the women travelling long distances to mill. She tells me that it was never meant to be a business but just to keep her busy. My mother later retired from the business in 1992 to go and look after my sick father. My father later passed on and my mother never returned back to the business so my elder sister took over the operations of the mill.

When my mother retired, the mill had employed 10 permanent staff members. Over the years the demands  from people and small businesses grew and my sister decided that it only made sense that the mill be a complete business and run as such.

She then left her job as a nutritionists and joined the company full time as the Managing Director. She managed the business from 1993 to 2009 when I joined to date. Before I joined  the company, my sister had managed to seek financial assistance from Barclays Bank of Botswana and from Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) which was used as working capital.

What was the status of the company when you took over?

When I joined the company in 2010, it was facing mismanagement challenges, we wanted to improve the plant, expand our operations and we needed serious financial injection. We had 90 employees and I felt it was important to semi automate a lot of the operations in order to meet the demand as well as international standards of food production. I then did my research on Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and their requirements then applied for financial assistance in 2011 and by God's grace and hard work our loan was approved in 2012. The funds were directed to purchasing machinery which will help semi-automate our operations, to train our staff as they had no skills and some funds used as working capital.

Ever since I assumed the operational leadership of the business we have managed to train our people and hire skilled employees such as accountants to keep our records clean and in order,  a certified miller and someone with business management skills. The company initially was never not meant to be a full on business so those hired at the time had no qualifications but now it was important to hire people with expertise in some of the critical areas of a business. CEDA came at the right time to assist in all our plans and we have managed to achieve some of our goals through their assistance.

What are the challenges of Mogotsi Morekwa Mills?

- One of our biggest challenges was with semi-automation. Because we were one of the first mills to branch into automation we engaged a company from South Africa to assist, we have never been happy with the service we received, most of the machinery we paid for has never been used, as there were many faults and we kept on calling them back to come and fix the machines until we had a complete fallout.

- Lack of training is also a challenge, currently we do on the job training but it would be great to have industry ready individuals.

- we would do more with more funds but sadly funds are never enough especially working capital

- our retail stores only pay after 60 days which is bad for us as a business.

What product and services do you provide?

Our core business is to mill and we provide the following sorghum products;

-Mosutlhane

-Ntlatlawane

-lebelebele

-Mabele

Who do you supply?

We are currently supplying over 102 shops nation wide these are group retailers, wholesalers and we do have walk ins as well

How was the transition from one woman to another?

We had a very smooth transition; when my mother retired from the business she wanted to spend more time at home with our father who was sick so it was easy for my elder sister to step in. And when I joined it was merely for my sister to go on leave, as she had never gone on a break since taking over from my mother but unfortunately she fell sick and I was left with no choice but to assume the full responsibility of running the operations of the mill and that’s how I became the Managing Director of the company. I personally had other plans for myself apart from the family business but as fate dictated I ended up here and I’m still here.

What has been your experience from dealing with CEDA?

CEDA is a great institution but just like all great things it can be even better. I have realised that the process requires patience which a lot of us do not have. We need to understand that we cannot be given money without intense checks and balances prior. The process is necesarry just that I wish it could not be repeated again if you come back for more funding especially if you had undergone the process and successfully completed it before.

I think CEDA needs to educate people more about their services, products and generally what it takes to have a winning proposal because the youth just believe that by submitting a proposal its a guarantee of receiving funds which is not the case.

Besides financial assistance what other assistance has CEDA provided you with?

-CEDA is big on mentorship, they believe that they need to hand hold you to a certain point and then let you fly. I really appreciate that about the agency

-my favourite thing about CEDA is that you have an officer dedicated to you so you do not introduce yourself every time you visit the offices.

What advice would you give other entrepreneurs?

I would say all you need is focus and patience. With this two you would go very far in life and remember to never compare yourself with anyone.

Maribe says she would like to see Mogotsi Morekwa Mills continuing as a family business from generation to generation and currently she has been engaging with family members on who she can mentor to take on the business to another level as she is now ready to hand over the baton to another one.