A little over half the projects funded through the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) have been successful.
Out of a total of 538 projects under the young farmers venture, only 253 have been successful, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dorcus Makgatho-Malesu, told parliament.
The minster said that CEDA is struggling to recover payments from at least 238 businesspeople who all have arrears running to over five months.
Parliament also heard that at least a total of 47 projects have failed.
The revelations came as a response to a question posed by Boteti North MP, Slumber Tsogwane.
Tsogwane sought to know the number of projects financed by the young Farmers Fund since its inception and how many of those have proved to be profitable or successful. He also wanted to know those that had collapsed and the reason why such had failed.
The minister attributed the failure of some of the projects to, among others, a lack of commitment from the promoters.
She stated that it has also been observed that cash flow constraints, a lack of a marketing strategy as well as insufficient market for the businesses, had contributed significantly to the collapse of most of these businesses.
Malesu also said that some projects had failed after being abandoned by business owners.
Meanwhile the Minister of Trade also informed parliament that her office was processing requests for liquior Depot licenses following the prohibition of sale of Chibuku brew in homesteads.
A total of 39 applications have already been received from the Kweneng District. She said that since the commencement of the traditional beer regulations, 32 liquor depot licences had been issued in the Kweneng District.
This followed a question tabled by Kweneng East MP, Moeng Pheto, who wanted to establish how many within the Kweneng District and Kweneng East had been issued with Chibuku depot licences.
Pheto also wanted to know the cause of delay in the processing of such licences and whether such delay does not fuel illegal trading of Chibuku.
The minister told parliament that she is aware of the delays in the issuance of licences but pointed out that delays occur where there is non-submission of supporting documents such as health and zoning reports.
“Madam Speaker, as already indicated, I am currently aware that delays in the issuance of Liquior Deport Licences have a negative impact on the livelihood of potential operators. It is also possible that such delays can encourage illegal trade. As a ministry responsible for business licensing, it is our interest that all licence applications pending approval will be considered in the quickest possible time,” she said.
