In their continued efforts to further drive the Youth Employability and Entrepreneurship agenda, Stanbic Bank Botswana AcceleR8 and Statistics Botswana have today, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The partnership is in line with the Bank’s strategic outlook to provide support and thought leadership that contributes towards increased usage of statistics for planning and decision making. Furthermore, it will allow both entities to enhance the effectiveness of their National development efforts in areas of common interest, particularly with regard to changing the Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship narrative.
Speaking at the event, which was held at the Bank’s Acceler8, Stanbic Bank Botswana’s Chief Executive, Mr. Samuel Minta said, “We are excited to partner with Statistics Botswana on this new and exciting initiative. As a Bank, we firmly believe in the formation of Private Public Partnerships as a means to drive Botswana’s socio-economic growth. This is how we are able to create sustainable solutions that have a real impact in our communities, turning dreams into reality and creating legacies. The Bank has the strategic platform to provide support and thought leadership expertise to contribute towards increased usage of statistics for planning and decision making. Furthermore, through the AcceleR8, we are able to foster an environment which provides solutions in terms of employability and entrepreneurship”.
For his part, the Statistician General, Dr Burton Mguni said that as part of its mandate to strengthen the engagement of the private sector in the leveraging of information technology platforms to be used to inform strategic decisions, Statistics Botswana is proud to partner with Stanbic Bank Botswana. He highlighted that with a key focus on data exchange platforms to facilitate sharing of data for purposes of generating official statistics, the partnership will go a long way in bringing this mandate to fruition.
As such, we intend to cooperate by:
- Promoting knowledge and information dissemination by unpacking the; Quarterly Multi-Topic Survey (QMTS) & International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) and other related statistical information;
- Strengthening the capacity of end users of statistics
- Promoting and influencing employment creation through the use of statistical data such as international merchandise trade statistics; and
- Hold at minimum quarterly or as may be opportune, thought leadership sessions through which to inform and disseminate useful information that can be used for opportunity creation including; venture creation, public policy guidance and ultimately, employment creation.
He further said, “As Statistics Botswana, we recognise the important role which Stanbic Bank Botswana plays as a private financial institution duly incorporated under the laws of Botswana and committed to serving the interests of organisations and individuals. Recalling that Statistics Botswana undertakes periodic Business Surveys, private sector partnerships are highly attractive. Business surveys produce statistics which are critical for national policy formulation, planning and decision making across all sectors of the economy, there is heightened need for strategic collaborations with the business community to significantly improve the quality of the data produced through these surveys. Just to mention but a few, Statistics Botswana conducts monthly and quarterly business surveys to produce Statistics on Formal Employment, National Accounts (Gross Domestic Product), Prices (Consumer Price Index) Industrial production and ICT usage.”
Statistics Botswana is a body corporate established by and under the Statistics Act of 2009. It is the pre-eminent National agency responsible for the development and management of official statistics; and the official source and custodian of official statistics and, the primary agency of the National Statistical System (NSS).
“We are confident that this partnership will continue to grow from strength to strength as we partner to drive Botswana’s growth. I cannot over emphasise how excited we are for this new partnership. As a bank we are truly dedicated to improving lives and this is yet another step in the right direction,” concluded Minta.
