IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SELIBE-PHIKWE LEA REGION – PHASE IV

FINAL REPORT

Submitted to: Director, Research and Development Division

Submitted by: Research and Development Division

Date of Submission: March 2014 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The phase 4 of the study on the Assessment of Business Opportunities by LEA Regions is a follow up to the first three phases of the study. Phases 1 and 2 identified business opportunities for all the thirteen (13) LEA regions while phase 3 validated business opportunities across the three (3) LEA regions of Tsabong, and . Therefore, the current phase (phase 4) validated business opportunities for the remaining ten (10) LEA regions of Kanye, , , , , , Selibe-Phikwe, , and Maun. However, this report was limited to carrying out an in-depth analysis of selected opportunities in Selibe-Phikwe LEA region. The analysis was aimed at validating the identified opportunities as well as establishing strengths, challenges and existence of supportive infrastructure and other services that could support the uptake of the identified opportunities in the region.

The business opportunities identified and recommended for promotion in phase 1 were ranked in a regional workshop setting with the assistance of members of the District Economic Development Committee (DEDC). Other stakeholders that did not form part of the DDC but were deemed to be resourceful also attended the workshop. A provision was also made for the attendants to include additional opportunities during the workshop which were then included in the ranking process. The rankings were done through the lickert scale allocation of marks to each of the factors stated below to get a mark for each opportunity. Thereafter, the rankings were used as the criterion for selecting opportunities for validation where highly ranked opportunities for the region were selected for further research.

Local Enterprise Authority Page ii of 10 F: RDD: 11 Rev.: 01 Opportunities were selected based on their potential to provide a return on investment centred on the following factors:

 availability of raw materials,  availability of technical and financial support,  availability of market,  suitability of physical environment,  climatic conditions,  availability of land and water,  availability of skills,  supporting legislation,  infrastructural development,  and economic and social strengths of the opportunity.

The above mentioned criterion for selection, therefore, formed the basis of the definition of a business opportunity in the context of this study where a business opportunity referred to an area SMMEs would find worthy of investing in due to its potential to provide a return on investment.

With the above factors influencing selection of opportunities for further analysis, the four opportunities selected and validated in the region were game ranching, tourism-related accommodation, dam-based tourism and the semi-precious stones industry.

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OVERALL STUDY OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of the study was to provide in-depth analyses of the selected identified opportunities for the Selibe-Phikwe LEA region.

MAJOR FINDINGS

Out of the four (4) business opportunities that were analysed during this study, game ranching, dam-based tourism and tourism-related accommodation facilities were validated for possible adoption by the region as depicted in Table 1. The opportunities are validated together with their supportive upstream and downstream activities in the value chain.

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Table 1: Validated Business Opportunities in the Selibe-Phikwe LEA Region

MAIN BUSINESS UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM MAIN SUPPORTING FACTORS OPPORTUNITY OPPORTUNITIES Tourism-related . Supply of landscaping services . Existence of tourist attractions like the Tuli accommodation . Supply of hospitality amenities Block and Lepokole ruins facilities . . Supply of furniture Availability of financial support. . . Supply of food and beverages Government support programmes in place like the tourism levy for training purposes . Supply of Cleaning materials . Availability of market . Shuttle services . Acceptable occupancy rate from existing . Transfers and tour guide services establishments. . Supply of crafts for curio shops . Availability of infrastructure (tele- connectivity, power and good road network) . Availability of raw materials and inputs . Availability of technical support from LEA, SPEDU, Tourism Organisation (BTO) and Hospitability and Tourism Association of Botswana

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(HATAB). . Availability of supportive legislation, policies and programmes . Linkage to the game ranching and water- based tourism . Availability of demarcated land for hospitality establishments. . Dam-based recreation . Supply and servicing of boats . Availability of financial support (recreational fishing, . Supply of fishing and sailing equipment . Availability of industry related statutes (e.g. boat rides, rowing, . Supply of safety equipment (e.g. life Fisheries Act) sailing, yachting) jackets) . Availability of infrastructure (tele- connectivity, power and good road network) . Favourably placed to attract tourists (corridor to the northern attractions of Botswana). . The potential to diversity the tourism and accommodation facilities product offering to include dam based recreational activities.

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Game ranching . Meat processing . Availability of game as raw material (includes game . Supply of packaging materials . Existence of freehold farms which could viewing, . Game skins collection easily be turned into game farms photography, filming, . Availability of financial support trophy hunting, . Shuttle services . consumptive . Accommodation facilities. Availability of infrastructure (tele- slaughtering ) connectivity, power and good road network) . Taxidermy . Access to technical support from DWNP and Botswana Wildlife Producers Association . Availability of industry related statues (e.g. game ranching policy).

Local Enterprise Authority Page vii of 10 F: RDD: 11 Rev.: 01 The fourth opportunity on the semi-precious stones industry was not recommended for immediate uptake and promotion by the LEA due to a number of constraints as depicted in Table 2.

Table 2: Invalidated Opportunities across the Serowe LEA Region

OPPORTUNITY REASONS FOR INVALIDATION

Semi-precious . The precious stones have not been quantified such that their stones sustainable exploitation is unknown. . There is no technical confirmation by the Department of Geological Surveys on the mapping, deposits and harvesting thereof, of the stones in the region which would ascertain feasibility and sustainability of the projects. . There is no technical information on the radio-active materials of the stones. . Competition as the raw material as it is also used in the construction industry. . Market information for stones and stones products could not be established.

Product diversity is still lacking in the country. . There is need to establish why the industry has failed to attract more than one dealer since 1980s.

Local Enterprise Authority Page viii of 10 F: RDD: 11 Rev.: 01 RECOMMENDATIONS

The recommendations being proposed for consideration by LEA management are presented below:

SUB SECTOR RECOMMENDATIONS Tourism-related  LEA should promote tourism accommodation accommodation Facilities facilities as part of the tourism sector support in this region. Dam-based Tourism  LEA should promote dam-based tourism activities as part of a diversified tourism sector in the region.

 LEA should liaise with SPEDU for the implementation of the recommendations of the study on tourism in the region. Game ranching  LEA should lobby for promotion of game ranching in the region for uptake by the medium and large enterprises with a view to benefit the citizenry and SMMEs in terms of employment opportunities and downstream linkages. Semi-Precious Stones  LEA should not promote the semi-precious stones industry in the Selibe-Phikwe region.

 LEA should engage the Department of Geological Surveys to map and quantify the semi- precious stones deposits in the region. This information will guide the steps that could be taken thereafter in terms of further research in the industry including the market.

Local Enterprise Authority Page ix of 10 F: RDD: 11 Rev.: 01 OVERALL CONCLUSION

The study validated the uptake of tourism-related accommodation facilities, game ranching and dam-based tourism for immediate promotion in the Selibe-Phikwe region. On the other hand, the collection and dealing in semi-precious stones could not be validated as the industry requires additional technical on the mapping and deposits of the stones. The market information was also lacking. .

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