26 Mar 2023

Some Members of Parliament have urged government to consider increasing the ceiling of the Youth Development Fund (YDF) from the current P100 000 so to encourage the youth to widen their scope and establish large scale businesses.

MPs made the call in their deliberations on the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture’s proposed budget for the 2023/2024 financial year recently.

Gaborone Central MP, Mr Tumisang-Mangwegape Healy said the current ceiling of P100 000 limited the youth to explore, expand their scope of businesses and engage in activities that would ultimately create reasonable employment opportunities.

Mr Mangwegape-Healy said the youth had the potential of engaging in large scale enterprises but were limited by the current scope of YDF.

“Not all the youth can become entrepreneurs. It is therefore important to focus on those that are capable and empower them to establish reputable businesses by increasing the scope of the fund. We need to increase the P100 000 to even half a million,” he said.

He argued that the youth should be empowered through well-crafted programmes that were in line with their interests, viable and able to sustain their livelihoods and those of others.

He was equally concerned by the increasing rate at which young people were becoming victims of drug abuse.

“It is important to address the issue of drug abuse and other anti-social behaviour of the youth by first uprooting its drivers which were mainly unemployment,” he said.

Despite being overwhelmed by challenges brought about by unemployment, Mr Healy applauded some young people who had explored their potential in sport, arts and culture to earn a living.

For his part, Tati West MP, Mr Simon Moabi concurred with MP Mangwegape-Healy on the need to increase YDF. Mr Moabi proposed that the fund be increased to at least P250 000 in order for the youth to establish viable businesses.

He equally welcomed the proposed establishment of an Arts Council, arguing that the facility must open up its wings and reach out to people in rural areas who were custodians of arts and culture.

The legislator also called on government to resuscitate Botswana National Youth Council (BNYC) district structures. 

He said the BNYC owned facilities in the districts were under-utilised, hence suggested that the youth be engaged to utilise the BNYC farm at Mmankgodi.

For MP Baratiwa Mathoothe of Serowe West, the YDF was not accordingly utilised by the youth, saying “even though it is a welcome development aimed at empowering young entrepreneurs, it is unfortunate to observe that most of the projects that are funded by the scheme have collapsed either due to market challenges or lack of entrepreneurial skills,” he said.

As such, Mr Mathoothe said measures must be put in place to ensure that the fund was used fairly towards sustainable businesses that were in a position to fulfil the needs of the young people and withstand competition in the market. Ends