PPC call for PPP

Kabelo Adamson
PPC CEMENT BOTSWANA HEAD OF BUSINESS UNIT: Tuelo Botlhole
‘Let’s work together to create employment!’ – Botlhole

PPC Botswana Head of Business Unit, Tuelo Botlhole is confident that by working together, the public and private sectors can revive the economy and create desperately needed employment in the process.

He advised policy makers to prioritize local entities for national projects and in return the private sector increases employment and net growth.

Unemployment has been a prolonged problem in Botswana for many years, with the onset of Coronavirus compounding the situation.

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“It’s time we as the industry captains came together to map a way of how we can solve this unemployment issue which has been building up for years and now it has heightened especially due to Covid-19. What we can do as the private sector is to come up with packages and insights that would enable the creation of employment across industries. At the same time the government can create policies that will stop a number of imports and product dumping so that we produce various goods locally,” stressed Botlhole.

He pointed out how indigenization plays a critical role in creation and driving economic viability.

“The private sector players should make it a priority to work closely with local suppliers on every level of production as it will create down- stream beneficiation,” he highlighted, urging policymakers to be strict in regulating such initiatives.

He gave an example of how PPC Botswana has engaged with the local truck association by giving its members transport and logistic jobs.

Over the years, the cement manufacturer has empowered a number of local community projects across the country, helping build them up to become fully operational businesses. In turn, this has helped create employment in their communities.

“In our industry, local cement manufacturers are looking towards to maximizing local raw materials such as fly ash from Morupule, to improve value chain. If imported cement is cut off, we will see a huge increase of employment. This model is a partnership which works- Public-Private Partnership (PPP),” he concluded.

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