04 Jul 2022

Manufacturing remains a key area for Botswana to attain high income status, and the Construction Industry Trust Fund (CITF) is well-placed to provide skills needed for achievement of this goal. Education and skills development minister, Dr Douglas Letsholathebe, said this when receiving, on behalf of government and CITF, over P20 million worth of equipment, curriculum material and expertise from the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA). 

Dr Letsholathebe said CITF was producing industry-ready and employable graduates whose varied skills were crucial to the country’s economic competency. The gift by the Germans would therefore go a long way in helping CITF to improve its offering, thereby helping the ministry’s efforts to develop and create the country’s skills base.

 “The donation comes at a time when Botswana is moving toward local manufacturing…industry involvement in skills training creates great opportunity [for] diversified skills, and [alignment] to industry requirements and standards, thereby producing job ready and employable trainees,” said Dr Letsholathebe. He encouraged CITF to continue exploring new collaborations and partnerships. Turning to VDMA, he applauded the association for its willingness to support developing countries, saying that made it a great conduit for skills transfer and a potential foreign investment partner. 

“This also creates opportunity for educational, business, global competitiveness and cultural exchange programmes between Botswana and Germany, for both trainers and trainees,” he said. For her part, Germany’s Ambassador to Botswana, Ms Margit Hellwig-Boette said VDMA conducted a market survey, which showed that Botswana used more German-manufactured machinery, equipment and tools, compared to other African countries, hence the need to embark on skills transfer. 

“We also realised that vocational training needs more support because many countries put too much focus on university education and do not value enough the manual labour and the skilled labour which is not inferior,” she said. She added that the ‘state-of-the art equipment’ donated by the association was specialised for the manufacturing and mining industries and expressed hope students would find using it exciting.

 Ms Hellwig-Boette said the VDMA represented more than 3 400 German mechanical engineering companies, whose members in Botswana included among others, Bosch and Siemens. The association had so far, through its Skilled Workers For Africa initiative, trained over time, 402 people in Programmable Logic Controller systems (a computer used in the control of manufacturing processes, such as assembly lines, machines, and so forth), hydraulics and mechatronics. 

The trainees were from government departments and private companies, that inclided, Water Utilities Corporation (WUC), Botswana Police Service (BPS), Botswana Defence Force (BDF), Serowe Brigades, JCB, DaBravo Systems, Kgalagadi Breweries, Civil Aviation and Dewet Drilling. The association also trained some unemployed graduates to make them employable. She encouraged CITF to make good use of the equipment to help support President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Reset agenda and ensure transformation of Botswana into a knowledge-based economy. ENDS