16 Feb 2016

Government has over the years invested heavily in empowering the youth, and the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) will further assist in the economic emancipation of Botswana’s youth.
Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Mr Thapelo Olopeng said when contributing to the budget debate at the National Assembly on Monday.  

Mr Olopeng said that the ESP offers great opportunities for the younger generation to actively participate in the country’s economy.

“The youth should set up companies and tender in order to benefit from the ESP.  While this programme will benefit Batswana across all generations, the youth will have an opportunity to take advantage of this policy as it will lead to empowerment and creation of jobs,” he said.

Minister Olopeng, who is also the Tonota legislator, added that those who criticise the country’s defence spending lacked an understanding of the proper cost that needs to be incurred in order to ensure safety and security in the country.

“Military equipment is very expensive, but the country cannot afford a situation where its army is not properly equipped.  As a country, we need to secure our borders and we should not spare any effort or constrain our budget in order to guarantee our safety,” Mr Olopeng said.

“I also urge parliamentarians to realise that security issues are by nature sensitive, and we should desist from probing and attempting to divulge information that should be protected for the sake of national security,” Mr Olopeng said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Slumber Tsogwane said that Botswana’s economy had done relatively well, despite the effects of the sluggish growth in the global economy.

 He said that economic growth in some of the world’s economic powerhouses such as India, China and the Eurozone countries had slowed down in recent years, and this presents both opportunities and challenges for developing countries such as Botswana.

Furthermore, Mr Tsogwane, who is also the Boteti West legislator, said that Botswana needs to work on making economic diversification a reality in order to create jobs and cushion the local economy from global shocks. Ends