HOPE IN CITIZEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

MBABANE – It seems the enactment of the 2011 Citizen Economic Empowerment Bill will finally soon be a reality.

This is if a guarantee by the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo, is anything to go by. The ministry is said to have submitted the Citizen Economic Empowerment Bill to Parliament after it was approved by Cabinet. “A workshop for the Portfolio Committees both in the House and Senate is scheduled for the end of September 2021 where Members of Parliament (MP) from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade Portfolio will have the opportunity to make inputs to the Bill,” said the minister.

Empowerment

At a high level, the Bill seeks to empower Eswatini businesses through economic empowerment measures such as preferential procurement; promotion of local and foreign investment opportunities including joint venture with foreign companies; investment opportunities in specific sectors that will be reserved for citizen-owned companies and regional development inclusive of establishment of cooperatives and other community-based projects.  “It is anticipated that all the processes leading to the enactment of the Bill will be completed by the end of this year,” assured the minister.

Once the Bill becomes an Act, it will ensure Eswatini becomes with regional counterparts who have almost similar instruments. In South Africa there is a Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act. The Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act 53 of 2003 establishes a legislative framework for the promotion of black economic empowerment; to empower the minister to issue codes of good practice and to publish transformation charters;  and to establish the Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council, among other things. In Botswana, there is a citizen economic empowerment. The philosophy of citizen economic empowerment is derived from the need to build capacity of nations to respond to the changing economic and political environment and participate effectively in the decisions that affect their lives.

Development

It recognises the need for economic development to lead to equitable distribution of income and wealth in order to improve the quality of life of citizens. Citizen economic empowerment interventions should equip citizens with the necessary competencies, which would enable them to take better advantage of economic opportunities and thereby have a stake in the process of economic growth and development. Government of Botswana has, over the years, embraced citizen economic empowerment in its development planning process in the absence of a specific citizen empowerment policy. A number of programmes and policies aimed at supporting citizen economic empowerment have been implemented. These include; Localisation Policy; Credit Guarantee Scheme; Reservation Policy; Preferences under Public Procurement; Privatisation Policy; Financial Assistance Policy; Universal Access to Education; Micro Business Finance Scheme; Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA); and Citizen Entrepreneur Mortgage Assistance Equity Fund (CEMAEF), Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) and recently, Economic Diversification Drive (EDD).

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: