In addition, Absa bank participated in the Government COVID-19 Loan Guarantee Scheme (administered by BECI) introduced to support eligible businesses with access to credit from banks to shore up business operations, whereby up to now, it has supported eight businesses with loans amounting to P41.5 million.
For emphasis, and to broaden this to the national context, I need to observe that, indeed, in the long-term and especially as diamond revenues decline, COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the realisation that, the current development model, primarily based on government spending, is likely to be constrained by  scal sustainability realities,  reinforcing the need for a more dynamic private sector and, therefore, the imperative to promote entrepreneurship, self-employment and diversi ed sources of income.