Labour Dispensations/ Work and Residence Permits

Management and professional employees of companies, organisations and institutes registered to operate in the Botswana Innovation Hub are exempted from the requirement of applying for work and resident permits. This incentive should assist foreign investors especially in the start-up phase when the companies' experts may be required to maintain quality and performance. At the same time, labour laws are undergoing review to make them more investor-friendly.

The Training Grant

The Training Grant will be on offer to investors that train local staff, be it institutional training or on-the-job training. While it is recognised that some companies need to bring in their own experts during start-up operations in Botswana , it is also expected that such companies would employ and train local staff. Investors that train local staff shall be exempt from the Training Levy and shall also be reimbursed 50% of the assessed cost of all approved training programmes.

 A Competitive Telecommunications Package

BIH will be able to offer regionally competitive telecommunications packages through the licensed operators in Botswana . Such preferential packages can be negotiated as part of the registration process with the assistance of the BIH Management.

The Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund offers opportunity for BIH companies to access government co-finance for product and business development and research activities. To access such funding a proposal would be submitted to the BIH Management for assessment by a Committee of experts. The Fund will be operational with effect from 1 April 2009 and information on how to apply will be published prior to that date.

 Graduate Internship Scheme

Through the graduate internship scheme, investors will be able to employ well educated newly qualified graduates as interns for a period of 3 to 12 months, during which the employer can get to know a potential employee before committing to a more permanent employment contract. The internship is an attractive and cost effective option for investors as the interns cost less than a formal employee. The scheme comes with no formal commitments from either the employer or the intern. For the intern this is exposure to work and an opportunity to impress the potential employer.

Business Incubator

 A comprehensive array of entrepreneur support, including a full range of mentoring, advisory and coaching services, will be offered to start-ups which will spin-off from the R&D-activities in the BIH or elsewhere. The Incubator is also open for anybody with a potential business idea. The goal is to help the incubator clients to become world-class players in their fields. The incubation services will be started gradually during 2010.

Access to Venture Capital and Local Equity Partners

Venture Partners Botswana
Botswana Development Corporation 
PEO Venture Capital
Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency