Background
The #PushaBW campaign was launched in December 2018. The campaign is a national initiative aimed at encouraging and rallying Batswana to actively grow the local economy by supporting and buying locally made products, supporting local initiatives and using local services. The campaign implores Batswana to empower, sustain and grow the country by consciously purchasing and using products made and grown in Botswana.
The campaign is premised to achieve the following key tenets:
- Buy more:
To drive encourage and drive the population to buy and utilize more local products and services
- Awareness creation:
- Support local producers with marketing activities that create awareness of their products.
- Give reason to take action:
- To provide public education on reasons to ‘Buy Botswana’
- Where to find them:
- Development of a local supplier Database for Botswana products and services that can be accessible by Batswana
- Advocate for policy:
- Advocacy for key policy issues and interventions that will lead to the success of the campaign
The campaign continues to gain significant momentum, this is proven by the notable support and uptake from various stakeholders who have bought into it and have even partnered with Brand Botswana for campaign collaborations. The #PushaBW campaign has sub themes being #ListenLocal which is aimed at promoting local music, #EatLocal aimed at promoting Botswana’s cuisine and #TravelLocal which is aimed at promoting local travel to various tourism destinations in the country.
#PushaBW Forum
As another avenue to achieve the above objectives of the campaign, Brand Botswana annually hosts the #PushaBW Forum during the Global Expo Botswana. Through the Forum, Brand Botswana aims to create a platform where local stakeholders interact to discuss different issues. In the past, the below have been discussed:
- Consumer behavior around local goods and services
- What is required to get the population to procure more local
- The role of different stakeholders in the buy local initiative
- What are the local quality standards and how producers can ensure that their products meet the required levels of quality for consumer uptake
- The branding and packaging that is of the standard required to be on local shelves
- What can be done to stimulate interest in local products and services
Past themes
| Year | Focus/Theme | Participating stakeholders |
| 2019 | Product development (standards, branding, labelling) | NFTRC, BOBS, Branding expert, Arona Natutral Foods |
| 2020 | Facilitating access for local producer in retail space | Major retail outlets, DeBeers, Hilton Garden Inn, White Label Fragrances |
The 2022 edition of the #PushaBW Forum will focus on notable achievements since the launch of the #PushaBW as well as notable outcomes from the last two editions of the #PushaBW Forum. The event will consist of a presentation on how supporting/buying local impacts on the Nation Brand and panel discussions featuring entities that have made deliberate efforts to support/buy local, focusing on challenges, experiences and success stories.