07 Oct 2018

Mr Oganne Baitsile and Mr Gift Lajine are an example of what government youth empowerment schemes can do.

The duo are friends and live in Francistown although Mr Baitsile was born in Semotswane and Mr Lajine was born in Borolong.

Both are 34-years-old and did not let themselves be counted among the unemployed as they applied for and managed to get a Youth Development Fund (YDF) loan from the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development in 2010 after trying to find employment for years without success.

They got P74 000 to buy machinery, pay rent and take care of other business expenditures.

Now the two young men are operating a fashion design company called Apara Clothing, based in Monarch, Francistown.

They revealed that they chose fashion design after they realised that it was a passion for both of them.

They said they attended several workshops organised by the youth office which boosted their knowledge and skills.

Apara Clothing designs both modern and traditional clothing for both men and women as well as leisure wear, sportswear and clothes for events such as weddings, parties, church services and sports.

The two young men said their achievements included designing work clothes for Boteti Mining 2011 project, showcasing in Miss Botswana 2015 Fashion Show, winning position three at the President’s Day Fashion

Design competitions in 2015 and being invited to the Cross Border Fashion Show in Gauteng, South Africa.

They said they mostly use social media to market themselves while also visiting government offices, private companies working places and attending trade fairs to sell their products.

“Fashion designing needs creativity, hard work and passion,” said Mr Baitsile.

“Fashion designing also needs someone who is determined and prepared to work extra hard in order for the business to succeed,” added the other partner Mr Lajine.

They said they had to go through challenges to be where they were today, and that through patience and perseverance they managed to overcome most of them.

They added that cooperation, trust and transparency had led to them managing to run their business peacefully, unlike other youth partnered businesses that collapsed because of fights and misunderstandings.

The duo said the advantage of partnership was that there was sharing of ideas between partners, saying “two heads are better than one.”

The two young men also stated that their business was currently not doing badly although they operated from a small space.

“We have a very small working space which affects our operations, and we have long tried to find a bigger working space, including from council without success,” said Mr Baitsile.

Mr Lajine said they want to see their business grow and they being among the greatest fashion designers in Botswana and even outside the country.

He encouraged youth who benefited from government youth empowerment schemes to work hard and show passion and determination in their businesses. Ends