12th JULY 2026
Own Correspondent
We are producing and sharing The Local Enterpreneur to celebrate the individual ingenuity of a myriad of innovative indigenous business leaders in challenging market conditions.
They are largely unseen and unheralded. When critics say Batswana are lazy and make poor quality products and services – tell them about these local champions of economic development. Tell them about the story of Matilda Mpai of Divine Morula, who manufactures natural body products like oil lip balm as well as hand and body lotion from Morula people typically discard.
Tell them about the story of Didintle Moreki, who manufacturers organic chemical free skincare products from Mowana and Moringa plants.
They are trend setters who are defying conventional wisdom. They are part of the solution. Not part of the problem. The purpose of telling their stories is to lobby procurement decision makers to support them. Unapologetically.
It will create a knock on effect. Drive revenue growth and inspire unemployed youth to understand what possibilities exist for focused innovators.
Overshadowed by their better resourced media savvy global counterparts in the East and West, they are often unfairly lambasted and overlooked.
In The Local Enterpreneur we proactively celebrate their vision and resilience. This is important because of the problems Botswana faces.
The economy is not creating jobs and Botswana has a growing number of unemployed graduates.
In 2025 University of Botswana alone produced 3539 graduates and other local institutions countrywide 4160. Despite the annual increase in graduates Youth unemployment stands at 46%.
There are 70,000 unemployed tertiary graduates in Botswana currently. Available job vacancies favour people with valuable job experience. Botswana needs to create more jobs and we need to use existing resources better.
Depending on foreign direct investment ALONE is not the answer. There are low lying fruits – Local business leaders.
Afterall, SMME’s which employ 300,000 people and account for 50% of formal employment is the backbone of Botswana’s diamond dependent economy.
Unemployment sits at 21%. We need to shift from citizens who take jobs to those who create jobs.
We also need to overcome historical and structural problems like poor capital access, market crowding by locally domiciled multi nationals and the arbitrary distortions of market behavior occasioned by politically connected tenderpreneurs.
We therefore thought it very opportune to share how self driven Local Enterpreneur’s are transforming lives and creating positive impacts by staying grounded in conviction and purpose.
They drive inclusive economic growth, create jobs and foster innovation on both a local, regional and global scale.
Join us in this journey as we learn how solution driven business founders in the local business community are turning very simple ideas into sustainable platforms for wealth creation.
Click the link attached to introductory explanation and enjoy their stories.
