14 Mar 2019

Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) and Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to help market and create networks for Botswana arts and cultural products and services at domestic and international level.

Speaking at the signing ceremony on March 12, permanent secretary in the ministry, Kago Ramokate said the MoU was the formalisation of a working relationship at an operational level.

“The memorandum will create an enabling environment for Batswana artists to take advantage of opportunities that are availed through various platforms with the aim of exporting their cultural goods and services in the international arena,” said Ramokate.

He said as a result, local artists would realise their full potential, not only as producers of artistic work and cultural goods and services, but also as contributors to the country’s cultural heritage and economy.

Ramokate said the ministry had various programmes geared towards improving the livelihood of artists, including youth empowerment schemes such as the Youth Development Fund and Arts and Cultural Grant. 

“MYSC and BITC have formulated a strategy to facilitate the promotion, marketing and accessing of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) market for Botswana baskets and crafts. I am reliably informed that we should start exporting to this American market by May 2019,’’ he said.

For his part, BITC chief executive officer, Keletsositse Olebile said the MoU was particularly on the joint mandate of implementing the Botswana national strategy on AGOA with a specific bias on the arts and crafts sector.

He said the objective was to facilitate the formalisation of the sector and to promote it by developing a sectoral implementation plan which spelled out how the sector could be formalised and contribute to the country’s GDP.

Olebile said the sector was one of those through which government initiatives such as poverty eradication, women empowerment and rural development could be achieved. He noted that the sector was mainly constituted by producers from remote and rural areas with main contributors being women.

“A joint promotion of the sector through trade missions and exhibitions, information exchange as well as promoting the use of the country brand and imparting knowledge on the Botswana arts and crafts through Botswana embassies across the world,’’ he said. ENDS