15 Aug 2022

Young people have been advised to focus and seize the countless opportunities offered by the creative industry if they want to become the next billionaires.

Assistant Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture Mr Buti Billy in the past billionaires were supermarket owners or transport and logistics magnates.

But now the creative industry and agriculture could produce the next billionaires, he said on the occasion of International Youth Day commemoration  in Tsabong on Friday.

Mr Billy encouraged the youth to heed President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Reset Agenda call for mindset change. 

Mindset change, he said would create value chains and ultimately wealth for those prepared to transform.

The assistant minister said government continued to create an enabling environment to create equal opportunities for all.

He said government’s efforts to reduce Botswana’s high import bill needed robust young people to tap into various sectors to export goods and services. 

Mr Billy said government was a readily available market that they could supply.

Encouraging the youth to have wild dreams which could bear new innovations, he assured them of government’s support.

Another advantage for Botswana youth was government’s  continued investment in skills development and capacity building, said Mr Billy.

In addition, he said government had ratified protocols which supported the youth and continued to come up with programmes and policies to empower young people. 

On the legislative front, Mr Billy said laws that supported the youth continued to be made.

Giving examples, he said the age limit for land application had been reduced from 21 to  18 while early retirement was now  45 to create room for young people in workplaces.

Mr Billy said Botswana National Youth Council (BNYC)had also done a lot to facilitate youth social and economic development.

It was therefore an individual’s responsibility to take up government programmes, he said.

On this year’s theme, Intergenerational solidarity: creating a world for all ages’, Mr Billy emphasised the importance of creating an environment where generations could cooperate.

With intergenerational solidarity, the youth would bring in innovation while adults would bring indigenous knowledge, wisdom and experience, he said.

He encouraged the youth to nurture their talents and work on achieving better on a daily basis. 

For his part, BNYC board member Mr Mooketsi Rakose said International Youth Day was in recognition of the youth as essential partners of change.

 The aim was to give young people an opportunity to celebrate their views, potential and contribution to education, conflict resolution and social justice, he said.

Mr Rakose said the day was also meant to highlight that young people needed to engage at local, national and global levels.

As part of the commemoration,   debate and essay competitions, a roundtable discussion for out-of-school youth and disc jockey motivational talk were held ahead of the day.

Principal education officer, Mr Mangwe Tlhabano said both the youth and adults had called for programmes and policies that could create synergies and partnerships between them.

The two groups stressed the importance of capacity building and skills development programmes and policies cutting across all age groups. 

They requested that the work experience requirement for jobs be revisited as it often denied capable youth opportunities.

It was also suggested that agricultural programmes allowing for youth-adult  partnership, with legally binding agreements, be created.

Senior national netball team captain, Ms Francinah Aymen encouraged the youth to be ambitious and look beyond their environment.

Ms Aymen, who comes from Draaihook, said circumstances should not be seen as a stumbling block to achieving one’s dreams.

“Your mindset can be your greatest enemy. You can be the very same person who sabotages yourself because you have no life philosophy. You need to define the structure of your life and work on your daily habits,” she said.

Ms Aymen advised the youth to have positive affirmations  daily.

To be shapers and movers, you should also pursue sport, she advised

Kgalagadi South MP Samuel Brooks encouraged the youth to be disciplined and stop posting negativity and insults on social media.

Meanwhile, he said plans were  afoot to involve the youth in tourism and encouraged them to apply for funds and soon to be advertised campsites in the Kgalagadi Tranfrontier Park.

Also being planned was taking students on safari tours, said Mr Brooks. Ends