1st November 2022
Sello Motseta
One of the key priorities of the Ministry of Trade and Industry is the reduction of the national import bill through boosting domestic production and facilitating local market access for our products officials revealed during the opening of the PushaBW Forum.
Beauty Manake, Acting Minister of Trade and Industry, said “This Forum provides an opportunity to deliberate on the issues relating to our ability as a country to build productive capacity as well as competitiveness of our products.”
She said, “#PushaBW journey started as a marketing campaign aimed at encouraging Batswana to actively participate in growing the local economy, by procuring local products and services and supporting local initiatives. When we launched the campaign in 2018, we had envisioned and hoped for a positive uptake and I stand here happy to tell you that not only has the campaign been received positively, but we have also seen great and significant developments across the market.”
According to officials the success of the #PushaBW campaign is seen through the vastness of the stakeholders who have come on board over the years to expand the scope and vision of this campaign, to steer citizen empowerment, economic growth and diversification, employment creation and export-led growth.
“Local retailers have not only taken up the mantle to increase the number of local products on their shelves, but to also open themselves up to engage with local producers to ensure that there is understanding of listing requirements. Stores such as Woolworths, Square Mart, Fours, Trans, Choppies and Sefalana joined BITC on a national roadshow to facilitate this engagement,” said Manake.
The #PushaBW Campaign, driven by BITC, and activated through the combined efforts of the three SOE’s. The PushaBW Campaign is the key meeting point of the mandates of the three entities. These three entities together with other stakeholders; Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) and Women in Business Association (WIBA) have recently partnered to deliver the National SMME Roadshow which reached over 400 SMMEs across various sectors.
The Roadshow served as a platform of engagement between large local retailers and local producers to educate them on listing requirements. This initiative was aimed at increasing the local products uptake in retail stores. It has resulted in local products being on store shelves of retailers such as Square Mart, Woolworths Botswana, Trans Africa, Fours Cash and Carry, Choppies and Sefalana.
#PushaBW engages consumer, producer, retailer, corporate and government, to actively prioritise local and already entities such as Debswana and Morupule Coal Mine are implementing Citizen Economic Empowerment Programs (CEEP).
“We, together with many stakeholders here present, are committed to investing greatly in capacitating Batswana and local companies to thrive through various government initiatives. I therefore urge you to improve your product quality to compete against the already established brands in the market and grow consumer confidence in local products and services,” said Anthony Sefako, Acting Chief Operations Officer, BITC.
