10 Feb 2020

Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development says the African Youth Fund (AYF) exists to stimulate private sector growth in Botswana through economic diversification, entrepreneurship development and employment creation for young people.

Mr Buti Billy was speaking at the launch of the Led to Lead Youth Empowerment project spearheaded by AYF at Francistown Civic Centre on Saturday.

He said the fund sought to complement efforts by government to provide enterprise development solutions for economic development through business training, project funding and project incubation.

The premier of the project, according to the Francistown East lawmaker, was  important to Francistown and the rest of Botswana as it laid a cornerstone for a new approach towards youth development.

Even the theme: Ikagele Bokamoso, Mr Billy stated resonated well with his ministry’s mandate to create an enabling environment for youth empowerment.

“As a government, our commitment to youth development is influenced by our democratic goals which are based on the principles of social and economic justice, empowerment, participation and active citizenship,” he said, adding that addressing youth unemployment was one of government’s top priorities.

That being the case, Mr Billy said government embraced complementary efforts especially from the private sector as government could not go it alone.

The assistant minister was happy that once trained and funded, young entrepreneurs would have an opportunity to be part of a value chain that supplied fresh produce such as eggs, chicken, vegetables and many such agricultural produce.

African Youth Fund director, Mr Nkwato Chintu told young people who attended the launch that the led to lead programme was not necessarily a platform with which to give them their dreams on a silver platter.

Rather, he noted, the programme’s primary intent and purpose was to  rekindle the dream young people had to change for the betterment of their lives and those of their fellow citizens.

He also said that since registration in 2017, AYF together with its development partners had managed to train a sizeable number of young people in Botswana on business and entrepreneurship.

 Director of Yenu Supermarket, who are AYF partners, Ms Gaone Monau said her enterprise, which was wholly citizen owned, was to provide start-up capital for young people trained through AYF to supply inventory to the supermarket over the next five years.

Besides supplying Yenu outlets that were about to spread across the length and breadth of Botswana with agricultural products, Ms Monau said the chain store would also recruit over 200 young people as part of its work force.

“We need to help government create jobs and as Yenu Supermarket we are heeding the call by government,” she said.

Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture Development district coordinator for Francistown, Mr Caiphus Kopelang said his ministry welcomed initiatives geared towards youth empowerment such as the Led to Lead programme by AYF which took young people through business and entrepreneurship skills.

He therefore called on young people to jump at the opportunity availed by AYF to realise their dreams.

His sentiments were echoed by Francistown East councillor; Mr Thato Tselawe who said the initiative gave young people in Francistown and beyond hope for a better future.

For a young person to be enlisted in the programme, they are to part with a P50 joining fee and P300 training fee. 

 

Only young people up to the age of 35 with a dream to pursue agriculture related businesses are eligible to join the led to lead program me. ENDS