28 Sep 2022

Residents of the copper mining town of Selebi Phikwe are expected to paint Sam Sono stadium blue, black and white during Tsholofelo Carnival set for September 30.

Tsholofelo Carnival will kick-start the country’s 56th  Independence Anniversary, with parades from all corners of the town, where the young and the old will be taking to the streets masquerading to the stadium in their carnival costumes while others will be donning their national colours regalia.

The organisers of the inaugural Tsholofelo Carnival Premiere Nickel Resources Botswana (PNRB), commenced with a three-day entrepreneurship development programme which will end on Independence eve.  

“The carnival looks at four thematic areas, entrepreneurship development program, Arts, Sports and Culture,” said the PNRB Environmental, Social and Governance Manager Shamil Agosi during the official opening of the Entrepreneurship Development Programme seminar held in Selebi Phikwe on Tuesday.She said the seminar demonstrated PNRB’s efforts in building a resilient economy which would sustain the town after the mine closed.

Agosi explained that the whole concept behind the Tsholofelo Carnival was to help resuscitate the economy of Selebi Phikwe in all the four thematic areas, adding that the entrepreneurship development program focused on youth owned businesses as well as Small Medium Micro Enterprises based in the Spedu region which covered five constituencies, Selebi Phikwe East and West constituencies, Mmadinare, Bobonong and Lerala/Maunatlala constituencies.

The seminar would among others focus on value creation, economic resuscitation and ecosystem building.

She further explained that the Carnival would end with Tsholofelo Carnival Cup on October 1, where local football teams would be demonstrating the football talent possessed by Selebi Phikwe residents.

Agosi emphasised that the Tsholofelo Carnival which symbolised the hope for a better tomorrow, was aimed at promoting and showcasing the social and historic origins of the region through music, sports, arts and entrepreneurship in the quest to build a resilient economy of “Zana” as affectionately called.

The Arts Exhibition would be held at Selebi Phikwe mall’s Ackerman Parking lot on September 29 and would include Arts performances.

The PNRB Chief Executive Officer Montwedi Mphathi added that whilst his company which acquired part of the assets formerly owned by BCL mine, had the ambition to build the best mine possible, it also intended to develop rural development sustainability.

He added that the carnival’s inauguration marked the official soft launch of PNRB’s Tsholofelo project which symbolised the socio-economic and growth hope that PNRB holds for Selebi Phikwe, the SPEDU region and the entire nation.  ENDS