26 Aug 2024

 Parliament has learnt that there are no plans to fill in the current 11 vacancies at SPEDU. Answering a question in Parliament on Wednesday, Minister of Trade and Industry, Honourable Mmusi Kgafela said the 11 vacancies comprised chief executive officer, four directors for investment promotion, community economic facilitation, strategic projects as well as corporate services.

At managerial level the six positions included tourism services, investment promotion, infrastructure development and real estate services, research and cluster development, risk as well as corporate strategy and performance monitoring.

He explained that the reason for not filling the vacant positions were due to the ongoing rationalisation exercise in 2022 which recommended for the transfer of SPEDU functions to Botswana, Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) and the merger of Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZA) and Botswana Trade Organisation (BTO).

He added that the rationalisation study was currently ongoing and expected to be completed by end of November. However, Minister Kgafela said there were vacancies in the SPEDU board, which technically was a board of directors. “We are, at present, working on filling in these vacancies for purposes only of the board assisting us in the rationalisation exercise and nothing beyond that,” he said.

MP for Selebi Phikwe East, Mr Kgoberego Nkawana had asked the minister to apprise Parliament on the number of vacant managerial and directorship positions at SPEDU and when he intended to fill them. ENDS