08 Aug 2022

Thirty Botswana youths have been selected to undergo intensive cognitive training with diamond processing specialist HB Antwerp in partnership with WomHub.

 WomHub is a Pan-African incubator for female founders in science, technology, engineering and manufaturing.

 Speaking in an interview following the selection on Saturday, WomHub CEO Ms Anjani Harjeven, said the 30 would undergo training that complemented their qualifications.

   The participants, who come from the communications, finance, human resources and legal fields, would be upskilled and set up for success in the world of work so that they could in turn uplift the economy of Botswana, she said. Ms Harjeven said the training was an opportunity for participants to hone their problem solving and innovation skills as well as to gain exposure.

   It was a way of developing young Batswana future leaders and bringing their talents to the fore so that they could play an active role in solving the problems facing their communities, she said.

  The WomHub CEO  said Botswana youth were innovative and therefore deserved opportunities to showcase their talents and skills.

   HB Antwerp, she said, which was positioning itself as a leading employer of young talent in Botswana, desired to provide a platform for Batswana students to share their vision and ideas for shaping a sustainable future for the country.

“We want to create real experiences, communities, and learning environments for local talent, as well as enable meaningful participation in economic decision-making at all levels of businesses so that opportunities and prosperity are shared,” said Ms Harjeven.

She said the participants also stood a chance to win placement in the highly-anticipated second class of the HB Innovation Lab set to begin in September as well as recruitment by HB Antwerp in January.

The aim was to cultivate sector-specific skills and offer meaningful, in-country training and job opportunities for young people in Botswana, explained Ms Harjeven.

The five-months virtual programme includes gaining innovation, leadership, entrepreneurship and employability skills, greater understanding of the future world of work, building and leveraging on a network of industry experts as well as enhancing confidence in public speaking.

Ms Harjeven said participants would also be required to develop a meaningful business idea to solve a problem in their community.

She said the programme was in line with HB Antwerp’s fundamental commitment to invest in and strengthen communities within which they operated.

Its aim was to support Botswana’s economy, foster long-term talent development, create economic fairness, young and emerging graduates exposure while furthering sustainability, diversity and inclusion in the diamond industry, said Ms Harjeven.

For his part, HB Antwerp academic training supervisor, Mr Wouter Vansteeland explained that the company’s innovation lab was a skills development programme that equipped graduates with leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship capabilities.

He said it was also an ideation and imagineering programme to help students understand the use of business solutions for overcoming challenges.

“This is also an effective recruitment case study tool to better understand how students think through everyday problems, how they create solutions focused mindset and learn key skills like the ability to express their ideas,” he said.

Mr Vansteeland said HB Antwerp was working on turning the diamond supply chain upside down starting with the customer, using technology and making it 100 per cent transparent.

Participants would use the power of diamonds to catalyze positive change, he said explaining that the opportunity spoke to skills development, technological advancement and job creation.

 It would also afford young Batswana the opportunity to develop common and transferable skills, both of which were needed for industrial and manufacturing advancement of the economy.

A clean and renewable energy project by five young women won the best innovation pitch. ends