Kutlwano Magazine

ESP On a Roll

Source : Kutlwano

Author : Thomas Nkhoma

Location : Gaborone

Event : Economic Stimulus Programme Launch

The much awaited and most talked about Economic Stimulus Programme otherwise popularly known by its ESP abbreviation, is now on course. President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama officially launched the programme in Machaneng in the Central District on February 13.

President Khama says the programme is meant to offset current unfavourable economic conditions that are a result of the 2008/09 world economic recession. Following the recession, a number of countries went through a rough economic patch that precipitated widespread job loses and loss of income in many households.

Consequently, through ESP, government will increase spending in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, tourism and agriculture to accelerate creation of more employment opportunities. The move is further expected to boost economic growth while catalysing economic diversification as well.

President Khama says particular attention has been given to the geographical spread of the projects so that all sectors and regions in the country benefit from the programme. The expected impact is improved lives through health, education, growing diversified economy besides increased employment levels.

The President says Information and Communication Technology as well as reforms in government`s procurement processes underpin ESP implementation.

“These efforts will be further complemented by the implementation of the Doing Business Roadmap and Action Plan recently launched by the Ministry of Trade and Industry,” says President Khama.

Also, Government Implementation Coordination Office (GICO) is being strengthened to oversee implementation of all government projects as well as to monitor and keep records of their progress. On the other hand, the National Strategy Office focuses on successful delivery, strategic oversight and support to ensure ESP goals are achieved.

Meanwhile, President Khama commended ministries for a job well done in preparing for best ESP delivery so that it achieves its intended outcome.

Otherwise, he says the major pre-occupation prior to announcing ESP had been to address project implementation bottlenecks so that government did not fall into the trap of failure to implement an otherwise well-thought if not well-intended programme.

As such government will make sure resources such as water and electricity as well as a capacity, both within government and private sector, are readily available. Also, taken care of are Environmental Impact Assessment and procurement processes turn-around times in addition to facilitating doing business through work and residence permits processing and external expertise visas.

Another area that President Khama underscores as critical is in mitigating opportunities for corruption to ensure that fast tracking of processes is not construed or used to bypass checks and balances in delivery of services.

Therefore, he says, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime as well as Financial Intelligence Agency have developed a toolbox to address such. ENDS