05 Sep 2022

Youth in Francistown East have been encouraged to utilise the remaining time to apply for the Youth Development Fund (YDF).

Addressing a joint kgotla meeting with the Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Sethabelo Modukanele, the MP for Francistown East, Mr Buti Billy, said application for Funding, which started on August 10, would close on September 13.

He was worried that although government had come up with programmes and policies geared towards developing its citizens, Batswana, especially the youth, were not taking advantage of such interventions.

Mr Billy said the YDF, as a socio-economic programme for start-ups and expanding businesses, was an economic empowerment programme meant to assist aspiring youth to venture into various economic enterprises.

“My ministry works in collaboration with other stakeholders such as Local Enterprise Authority to build the spirit of entrepreneurship and other government ministries and parastatals who offer technical support,” he added.

He said if properly utilised, YDF could create employment for many young people.

Mr Billy, who is also the Assistant Minister of Youth, Gender, Sports and Culture, was concerned that some projects funded under YDF had collapsed because of lack of seriousness on the part of the owners.

He had, as such, urged the youth to choose marketable, viable and sustainable projects that had quick returns and use the Internet to market their businesses.

On other issues, Mr Billy implored Ward Development Committees (WDC) in his area to commercialise their projects in order to generate revenue.

Also, MP Billy has appealed to residents of Tati East to utilise the SmartBots at Donga kgotla to gain access to certain services.

For his part, Mr Modukanele, who is MP for Lerala/Maunatlala, informed the residents that government was willing to increase allowances for the Ipelegeng workers, but was limited by shortage of funds. 

A lot of funds, he said, had been used for the containment of the spread of COVID-19, which move caused a strain on the government coffers.

“COVID-19 has derailed government plans to develop Batswana, but once the economy recovers, government may consider increasing the allowances as has been the case with old age pensioners,’ he added.

In her welcome remarks, Kgosi Lorato Mogopodi of Donga appealed to parents to encourage their children to apply for YDF before September 13 deadline.

She wondered why the youth were reluctant to utilise government policies and programmes when they were meant to empower them to graduate from poverty.

Kgosi Mogopodi also encouraged residents to take advantage of the SmartBots free Wi Fi to expand their businesses and connect to their political representatives such as MPs.

For their part, some of the residents complained that the recent electricity power cuts had disrupted businesses and that Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) was yet to advance reasons behind the power disruptions. 

They also wanted to know about the time frame for the opening of the Francistown BMC abattoir. ends