04 Sep 2024

Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) has since its inception in 2002, funded 586 companies at a total value of over P124.4 million in Ghanzi South Constituency.

This was said by Minister of Entrepreneurship, Honourable Karabo Gare when answering a question in Parliament on Tuesday.

Member of Parliament for Ghanzi South, Mr Motsamai Motsamai had wanted the minister to appraise Parliament on the uptake of CEDA in his constituency.

Mr Motsamai also asked the minister to further state the number of companies that had been funded, including their sectors since the announcement of the new CEDA guidelines.

He also wanted to know when the requirement for the Ranch Ecology Site Assessment Report was implemented and which department or agency was tasked with compilation of the report.

Minister Gare, therefore, noted that since the announcement of the new CEDA guidelines in July 2020, 327 companies had been funded, at a value of over P29.4 million in Ghanzi South constituency. 

He said 78 of the companies were in agribusiness, 11 in manufacturing and 238 in the services sector.

The minister added that the requirement for the Ranch Ecology Site Assessment Report was implemented in February 2021 and the Department of Forestry and Range Resources was tasked with the compilation of the report. 

“The department has a mandate to provide range ecology site assessments to fenced farms on request by farmers. 

The service is provided for free to cattle farmers,” he said.

In addition to reports from the Department of Forestry and Range Resources, Mr Gare said CEDA also accepted reports from private companies that had qualified expertise in the field of range ecology. 

He said proof of qualification and expertise in the form curriculum vitae and certified copies of certificates were required for verification. Ends