HRDC ENGAGES LEA ON HOW SMMES CAN BENEFIT FROM THE HRD FUND

In a bid to continuously administer the Human Resource Development (HRD) Fund, the Department of Funding engaged different stakeholders with a view to create maximum awareness and educate them on how the HRD Fund operates and how they can continue to utilise it thereby benefiting from it. On the 3rd September 2021, the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) in collaboration with Local Enterprise Authority held a virtual stakeholder engagement geared towards discussing how the Small Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) can benefit from the Human Resource Development (HRD) Fund.

Delivering an overview of LEA and its mandate, Mr Oreneile Padipadi, Head of Channel – South, stated that LEA was established by the Small Business Act of 2004, Chapter 43:10 to carry out on behalf of the Government of Botswana, and more specifically the Ministry of Investment Trade and Industry (MITI), the mandate of entrepreneurship and enterprise development in Botswana. Mr. Padipadi indicated that the Authority prides itself in having an extensive country-wide footprint of 15 branches. He further explained that LEA is mandated to promote general entrepreneurship and SMME awareness and identifying business opportunities for existing and future SMMEs just to name a few.

The HRDC Director Funding, Mr Mothusi Masole provided an overview of HRDC and its mandate which includes amongst others; planning and advising on tertiary education financing and workplace learning. In addition, Mr Masole indicated that the HRD Fund was currently undertaking some major business process re-engineering projects aimed at improving service delivery, revealing that HRDC is developing the Human Resource Development Fund System (e-HRDFS) that seeks to automate claims processes. The second project entails a comprehensive review of the HRDF aimed at reviewing the HRD Fund Model to make it more accessible and inclusive.

The Manager Claims Assessment, Mr Ndiwo Makula delivered a presentation on the HRD Fund set-up whilst the Fund Assessor at the HRD Fund Contact Centre, Ms Unomsa Dick presented on requirements for claiming from the HRD Fund specifically for SMMEs’. In conclusion, the workshop attendants extensively engaged in fruitful discussions in which LEA and SMME representative were accorded the opportunity to ask questions and to comment on presentations made.

News Date: 
Friday, September 3, 2021