The Voice (Francistown)
31 July 2007
Lobatse — A 15-member team tasked with examining economic development challenges and opportunities and formulating strategies for attracting investment into Lobatse has been launched.
The team called Lobatse Economic Development Task Team (Ledtt) was officially launched last Thursday.
Establishment of the task team followed a motion passed by the council last October calling for its formation.
Launching the team, Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Lebonaamang Mokalake, said its formation demonstrated a sense of maturity and the willingness of Lobatse Town Council to take full responsibility for tackling the socio-economic challenges and opportunities of the town.
Mr Mokalake said the initiative was premised on the idea that a growing local economy would, to some extent, address social ills such as unemployment, poverty and crime.
He called on all stakeholders to support the task team to do a thorough job whose results everyone would be proud of.
He noted that the task team members, drawn from government, Lobatse Town Council, parastatals and the private sector, was expected to conduct a comprehensive situational analysis of Lobatse and generate a well thought-out plan on the way forward.
Mr Mokalake said stakeholders should also set out to change their mindsets in readiness for implementing the task team's findings and recommendations upon approval.
"In this regard, we should gear up, free our minds from the shackles of entitlement and the dependency syndrome," he said.
He said that by pursuing excellence in whatever they did all times, they would be able to attract developments to Lobatse and its surroundings.
"We should, therefore, all commit ourselves to transforming Lobatse into an economic zone of choice, which will competitively attract investors and promote economic growth," he said.
He said, "doing business in Lobatse could become more cost-effective and attractive to investors through world class productivity and efficiency levels, service delivery and production of goods and services to internationally acceptable standards."
He said if that was done, the heavy follow of investors to Gaborone where services are perceived to be better would be reduced.
"Your success in transforming Lobatse into a vibrant economic zone will be a lesson to other local authorities in our country and beyond," he said.
Cllr Legodile Serema, the mayor of Lobatse, said work on revitalising the economy of the town had started.
Cllr Serema said the intention was that Lobatse should be able to offer employment opportunities within few years.
He said that although legally councils mandate was to provide social services, it found that it would be irresponsible not to take responsibility and address the economic problems bedeviling the town.
Mr Serema said Lobatse was experiencing an economic degeneration which had an effect on the population as most people left the town to seek jobs elsewhere. "All is not well," he said. He said the council had taken a step in the right direction.
The team consists of chief executive officers of Local Enterprise Authority and Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency: Dr Tebogo Matome, Dr Thapelo Maseka respectively; Messrs Bartholomew Gaobakwe, a businessman; Allan Botha of Bayford and Botha Attorneys, Victor Sennye, the chief executive officer of Botswana Insurance Fund Managers; Jacob Sesinyi, formerly with Debswana; Loeto Dilampi, the Lobatse Town Clerk; Moffat Mbaakanyi, a businessman; Brian Le Roux, a manager at LB Consultancy as well as Cllr Malebogo Kruger and Mrs Maria Nthebolan, the general manager for business development at the Botswana Development Corporation.
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