21 Nov 2016

The Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Mr Thapelo Olopeng has assured young people of his unwavering support as they strive to nurture and develop their leadership skills.

Speaking at the inaugural Youth Innovators Botswana day-long seminar at Maitisong Hall on Saturday, Minister Olopeng said there was need to grow and develop leadership talent of young Batswana willing to face today’s tough economic challenges.

He said the world over, governments were no longer able to provide as much as they did in the past and this called for strong focused young people.

“Success calls for everyone seeing themselves as leaders. Young people must take responsibility, take leadership roles that will enable you to drive innovation,” he said.

He said as his ministry was bracing for rebranding next year, they plan to set up strong communication platforms so as to be relevant to emerging trends as a ministry responsible for youth.

He told young delegates at the seminar that they were great partners, and that as their minister he had all the trust and confidence on them.

For his part, the chief executive officer of Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH), Mr Alan Boshwaen said he was grateful for governments’ commitment to youth entrepreneurship, and that it was important for young aspiring entrepreneurs to look into the future and create a knowledge based economy.

“I urge you to find economic prosperity for the next 50 years not based on natural resources. Let’s celebrate youth innovation, network, share ideas and get inspired for solid achievements. Our organisation as you all know was established to contribute to economic diversification and moving towards knowledge based economy, a seminar such as this one exposes young people to innovative platforms and business trends,” he said.

Founder of Harmony Venture Partners from San Francisco, United States of America, Mr Neil McGowan made an insightful presentation about becoming a millennial entrepreneur in today’s world. Other sessions of the day included insights from young entrepreneurs on the success, challenges and opportunities for growth.

The seminar was an initiative between BIH, De Beers and the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development and was aimed at exposing youth to the latest innovative platforms and international business trends towards fostering entrepreneurship as a lucrative opportunity to create employment as well as diversifying the economy. BOPA