The business community in Francistown says it is worried about Botswana’s decline in the Ease of Doing Business ratings by the World Bank, adding that that there is dire need by both the private sector and the public sector to come up with sound ideas to tackle the situation.
This emerged during a Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC) breakfast seminar last week in Francistown.
According to the Doing Business World Bank ratings report, Botswana has been declining for the past three years and currently sits at position 54.
Montwedi Mphathi, the General Manager of Botash who was among the participants at the seminar, expressed concern, saying that Botswana is moving at a snail’s pace in trying to address the situation. He said that Rwanda, which is a former war torn country, has managed to create a favourable environment for business gaining a better rating than Botswana.
“In Rwanda, for example, one can register and start a business in a single day. Rwanda has good business environment rating. I still do not understand why in Botswana we are still failing to create a favourable environment for business,” he said.
He also lamented the poor work ethic in the country, saying that it continues to scare away investors making the country unattractive to investors.
Dr Habaudi Hubona of Polani Clinic in Francistown also expressed worry saying that Botswana has a massive challenge of educating its youth about good work ethics as it affects Botswana’s competitiveness, especially with attracting investors into the country. She said that there is need to educate the youth from the Primary School level about the importance of good work ethics before they even seek jobs.
“For Botswana to have a good business environment, we need to have our youth educated from grass roots level about the importance of good work ethics,” she said.
Another participant, Ogomoditse Maruapula of EBAT Consultancies, also raised concern saying that there is need to change the mindset of government employees to be profit oriented as this would improve their work ethic. He said that most of the government employees are still lagging behind due to their mindset which then negates on their performances at work.
The objective of the seminar was to discuss issues relating to Botswana’s business environment and also to provide progress update on issues relating to the country’s international competitiveness.
