This morning, CEDA CEO, Mr Thabo Thamane addressed the nation on BTv and gave an update on the Agency’s efforts during the Covid- 19 pandemic. He also announced the launch of the Agency’s latest product, “Letlhabile” which is an Informal Sector Stimulation Programme. 
It focuses on uplifting the informal sector which has been negatively impacted by its vulnerability and reliance on an active formal sector and the movement of the public, whose mobility has been restricted by travel restrictions implemented to control the spread of COVID- 19.
It targets individuals who sustain their livelihood through business at the micro and informal sector level and focuses on supporting businesses in the informal and micro enterprise sector that were in existence and trading prior to the COVID 19 pandemic, prior to 29th Feb 2020.
To achieve its revitalisation objective and support the return of the informal sector businesses post COVID-19 travel restrictions, the programme offers a 3 months’ interest free period to allow businesses to build enough cash flow reserves before they start repaying their loans.
The time horizon for the programme is six months, effective 15 May 2020 until Nov 2020 and will provide loans from P500.00 up to P10 000.00. It will be delivered through all CEDA branches, supported by Botswana Post acting as an intermediary to receive applications & submit to us
The Agency will also undertake capacity building interventions in the areas of; record keeping, business formalisation and packaging and branding. These interventions will be delivered in clusters and where necessary and compelling, interventions will be done at a business level.
