09 Feb 2022

The 2020 Quarter four multi-topic survey indicates that 164 945 out of 509 195 youths are unemployed, the Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development Mr Buti Billy has said.

Mr Billy told Parliament Tuesday that the survey also indicated that 26 552 youth were underemployed.
He said government introduced various interventions such as the Affirmative Action where 15 per cent of maintenance projects had been reserved for youth.

The assistant minister pointed out that young people were allowed to use open spaces to set up temporary stalls and pay for tendered commercial plots in installments.
Thirty per cent of cattle chasing patrols and cut-lines had also been reserved for youth, he said. Mr Billy noted that the youth had been provided with skills enhancement and mentorship programmes.
He said there were collaborations with other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry in funding youth cooperatives.

He explained that there was also the Serowe Grey Water horticultural project, which was a collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security as well as the Youth Development Fund (YDF) and internship and volunteer programmes.

Talking about affirmative action, he said during 2021/22 financial year, government spent P64 389 491 on youth enterprises, while over P2 million was spent on maintenance projects reserved for youth and a further P195 million worth of tenders were given to youths.

Mr Billy said 21 youth companies benefitted from cattle chasing patrol and cut-lines tenders, while 214 benefitted from purchase of commercial plots through installments.
On skills, he stated that 291 youth were trained on soft skills for enhancing employability, 73 trained on construction and operation of digesters.

Mr Billy further noted that 36 youth companies had been earmarked for capacity building and the UNDP Supplier Development Programme, adding that 14 YDF beneficiaries in the Letlhakeng Sub-district were trained on small stock production at Lobu Farm.

A budget of P89.4 million, he explained had been allocated to fund a maximum of 895 youth businesses translating to 1 000 jobs.
Mr Billy further highlighted that the internship and volunteer programmes benefitted 14 294 youths and P1 754 000 was used to assist youth businesses for three months to cushion them against the pandemic.

The assistant minister was responding to a question from the Jwaneng-Mabutsane legislator, Mr Mephato Reatile who had wanted to know the number of unemployed youth in Botswana.
Mr Reatle also wanted the minister to state the government’s interventions to create employment for the youth and its key performance indicators and the results of these interventions. ENDS