Debswana Managing Director, Balisi Bonyongo, has called on Botswana to prioritise innovative and skilled workforce in order to remain productive and competitive in the world.
“Our national imperatives must be to transform ourselves into a highly innovative, productive and resilient nation. This calls for citizens who are prepared to selflessly share their skills and knowledge with others collaborating within and outside their normal work environments.”
Bonyongo was addressing the annual Public Service Convention held recently at the Botswana Public Service College under the theme, ‘Innovation; The Key to Public Sector Modernisation’.Bonyongo said that as a nation, we must come to terms with the current reality that impedes our ability to achieve our future ambitions. He cited poor work ethics in the labour force and insufficient capacity to innovate as some of the challenges that contribute to subdued growth and diversification of our economy.
“We must, therefore introspect as a country on these challenges and be resolute in addressing them going forward,” he said.He also noted that areas such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) could give the country endless opportunities. “Leading world economies have successfully implemented e-Government systems and have made use of ICT to enhance service delivery to the satisfaction of their publics.”
Bonyongo also took the time to share some innovative ideas that Debswana has developed to improve productivity and efficiency in the company. “We have put in place systems and processes to align the competencies, skills and aspirations of our people with our organisational needs, in order to create a conducive environment for innovation”.