12 Jul 2018

The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Kenneth Matambo says government plays an important role in creating a conducive environment for economic development to promote sustainable employment opportunities in the private sector.

Mr Matambo told Parliament that  in order to address the high rate of unemployment in the country, his ministry was developing an overarching national employment policy for Botswana, in collaboration with the World Bank. The Policy was expected to assist the country achieve productive, gainful and decent employment for all, as well as to contribute to continued reduction in income inequality and support government’s poverty eradication efforts. He said in developing the policy, the current economic situation and labour market trends in Botswana would be reviewed. Furthermore, he said a review and analysis of relevant employment and labour market policies, including laws and regulations to establish the adequacy and effectiveness of such policies in achieving full employment would be undertaken.

Mr Matambo also noted that the government had various strategies in place to create jobs as reflected in the NDP 11 which include the promotion of non-mining sector through EDD, empowerment of citizens through ESP, among others. Additionally, the minister said government continued to improve its ways of doing business so that the private sector could to play an anchor role in sustainable economic development and employment creation, through provision of favorable tax rates and improving regulatory environment.

He said according to the results of the 2015/16 Botswana Multi-topic Household Survey (BMTHS), the economically active persons recorded was 844 049 out of which 149 300 persons were unemployed. The latest unemployment rate was estimated at 17.7 per cent. He said in the future, the BMTHS would be changed to continuous MTHS and the unemployment results would be released on an annual basis from January 2019.

Member of Parliament for Gaborone North, Mr Haskins Nkaigwa had asked the minister to state any new government strategies in place to address the high rate of unemployment in the country and any robust strategy adopted by government to create jobs as well as the current unemployment rate. BOPA