BDC Launches New Corporate Strategic Plan

Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) Limited this year launched its new Corporate strategic plan which   will run from July 2007 to June 2011.The objective of the new Strategic Plan is to position the Corporation as the leading innovative investor in Botswana. The strategic plan has a strong bias towards developing the economic and social fabric of Botswana in both a domestic and international context.

While addressing Members of Parliament in March this year, BDC’s Managing Director, Mr. Kenneth Matambo said the new strategic plan  is  underpinned by the Corporation’s leading strategic aim which is to pro-actively contribute to the diversification of the economy by investing in commercially viable and sustainable business ventures. He said a new Marketing and Research function will be established to identify investment opportunities and generate project profiles and feasibility studies for development into viable business ventures. “Investment opportunities arising from beneficiation in mining and other natural resources will be explored to develop projects with investment potential. In addition, the new function will develop a data base of medium to large scale businesses which will assist BDC to identify  projects with potential for expansion, “he said.

Through the Strategy, BDC will put its stakeholders at the heart of all it does in order to ensure  that Innovative financial solutions are provided for both commercially viable and developmental projects. It will also ensure that partnerships are developed for both  domestic or international partners, to advance the development of Botswana and encourage Citizens to achieve their business potential.

The Corporation’s new mission statement is: The Premier Innovative Investment Partner delivering flexible financial solutions

And its vision is: To be the Leading  Development  and Investment Financier

The Corporation’s Leading Strategic Aim (LSA) that supports the delivery of the Mission is: To proactively contribute to the diversification of the economy by continuing to invest in commercially viable and sustainable business ventures

The Corporation’s Secondary Strategic Aims (SSA) are:

• To promote citizen participation in business ventures
• To identify opportunities and develop, implement and monitor investments directly, or in partnership with other institutions, which impact on Botswana’s economic and social development
• To create a culture in the organization which enables the delivery of the Mission and Strategy

To deliver on its strategic aims, the Corporation will develop an appropriate operating framework and have a level of financial robustness that will enable it to invest and help Government achieve its development objectives for Botswana.

The delivery of the Strategic Plan will be underpinned by a set of core values that are ingrained throughout the organization at all levels. The core values are:

• Quality – we strive to achieve excellence in all we do and deliver a world class service through continuous employee development and teamwork
  
  
• Professionalism and integrity – we treat all people with courtesy and respect and demand integrity and honesty from all employees when dealing with our stakeholders
  
  
• Customer focus – we put our targeted customers at the heart of all we do
  
  
• Challenge and innovation – we create a dynamic environment, which challenges all our staff to set high standards for themselves in tackling the constantly changing development needs of Botswana.

The new strategy emphasizes the need to pro-actively participate in infrastructure development with other stakeholders where feasible. The Corporation undertakes to appraise projects that have been identified by the Government for development and will implement them on their behalf after satisfying the viability criteria. BDC may solicit extra funding from Government for feasible large scale business opportunities as they arise. The Corporation will also identify Private-Public Partnerships opportunities and exploit them where necessary. As part of the Corporation’s initiative to encourage citizen participation in the national economy, BDC will be eager to support and assist companies especially, citizen companies, that will be involved in opportunities arising from privatisation.

Pursuant to encouraging citizen participation in business ventures, the Corporation will pro-actively promote joint ventures between citizen and foreign investors, prioritize divestments to citizens where appropriate, assist citizens in Management Buy-Outs, and investigate possibilities of divesting from subsidiaries through the listing of their shares on the Botswana Stock Exchange.

BDC continues to offer flexible financial solutions products that encourage business growth and sustainability, albeit under a competitive environment. The Corporation has recently introduced Invoice discounting which is a short-term working capital facility based on a company’s cash flow and invoice receipts. This new product will allow businesses to free up cash-flow against their invoices and enhance their sustainability.

As Matambo noted, “it is in all our mutual interest to strive to expand our businesses and achieve economic growth and development for our country. We encourage companies to consider how they could grow and expand their businesses. If a good commercial case for expansion is presented we are more than ready to consider and support such plans.”