06 Apr 2022

Young people must develop an eagerness to transform their lives through self-development instead of always looking to the government, youth empowerment, sports and culture development minister, Mr Tumiso Rakgare said during a town hall held at Cresta Marang Gardens recently. 

He said it was regrettable that many young people had potential to start without assistance, but failed to apply themselves and be innovative. 

“Our ministry is leading the most vibrant, hopeful and creative section of the population; it is important that the youth…bring change to their own destinies without relying on the government alone,” he said. He said, with a population of nearly 120 000, Francistown offered young people numerous opportunities and resources for self-actualisation and growth. 

“There are countless opportunities that offer great potential to transform your lives if fully exploited, especially with the city being the gateway to the north,” he said. 

Giving an example of one of the opportunities, Minister Rakgare said youth-owned companies could exploit booming housing development in Greater Francistown. He called for a mind-set shift by youth and urged them to believe in themselves. 

When responding, the youth said while they acknowledged that opportunities abounded, they could not explore them owing to lack of workplaces. 

They therefore pleaded with the minister to help them access land or workshops from which they could operate their businesses. Meanwhile, assistant minister, Mr Buti Billy said the ministry was always improving its policies to align them with needs of the youth. 

He advised them to inform themselves through research, and associate with successful people. He also urged them to look for business opportunities that allowed for working in a small space. 

“A personal computer on your desk can bring in many income generating opportunities. 

For example, the marketing industry needs many ideas and it is doable from the comfort of your home,” he said. 

Youth, he said, would do well to write business plans for themselves instead of having it done by somebody else. 

Doing it themselves would give them the confidence to understand and run their own businesses, he said. Successful young people whose businesses were previously funded by the Youth Development Fund (YDF) gave testament of how they tackled challenges. 

Mr Goitsemang Majaga, founder of Francistown College of Programming, said his business, which was fully funded and accredited by the YDF in 2015 had since earned nine awards, among them, position nine at the Africa Youth Awards. 

He said financial literacy and shrewdness were key to a successful business as they added credibility and made it attractive to both customers and investors. 

“It is important to manage business accounts and keep records, because when you go looking for financiers and investors they are going to be looking for your financial records,” he said. 

He pleaded with the government to ease licensing of businesses as it remained a major hindrance to youth starting own companies. ends