28 Nov 2013

The Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Mr Shaw Kgathi says it is common knowledge that in any business venture, when the business collapses, the owners would normally look for alternative sources of income.

Responding to a question in Parliament from the MP for Kanye South, Mr Abram Kesupile, Mr Kgathi said he would therefore expect beneficiaries of Youth Development Fund and/or any empowerment scheme to look for alternative sources of income in the event their projects collapsed.

“In fact, according to the Journal of World Business, Volume 43 of 2008, despite their potential to contribute significantly to the economy, Small-and-Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) faces many challenges.

These challenges account for the high rates of failure among them, estimated at 80 percent in the first three years of operation in the United States to 50 per cent in Australia, France and New Zealand,” the Minister said.

He admitted that in Botswana’s case, the success rate of on-going youth funded projects stands at 87.7 per cent as 1245 of the 1419 projects are existing after the grace period.He noted that to address the situation, the ministry has come up with some initiatives to put in place.

One of these is that project funding has been combined with pre and post-funding interventions aimed at enhancing recipients’ business management skills. These include the use of District Youth Empowerment Festivals and Business Ability Workshops, where the youth are exposed to all that they require to run successful businesses.

Another initiative is the introduction of Local Procurement Scheme, which provides for 20 per cent preferred margin to vulnerable groups of society such as the youth, women and people with disabilities in July 2013. This, he said, will ensure that government ministries and departments procure from companies, and in the process, improving the sustainability of such projects.

Furthermore, he said in 2012 his ministry also entered into a MoU with Limkokwing University of Creative Technologies for capacity building of youth officers.

This meant to equip the officers with appropriate skills and competencies to effectively monitor youth enterprises, and provide the necessary guidance to the youth, he said.

In addition, he said, the ministry was undergoing restructuring exercise which will ensure that more officers are deployed to the districts to implement and monitor programmes, including youth funded projects. He however said he was committed to doing everything possible to ensure the sustainability of youth projects.

He said this is important because they will improve the lives of the beneficiaries and create more employment opportunities for other young people. MP Kesupile has asked the minister if he was aware that some youth who have been successful in their application for youth support schemes and those whose projects have collapsed, join Ipelegeng Programme in search of an opportunity to earn some money.

He also wanted the minister to state new initiatives in place and those envisaged to assist them make a fresh start. ENDS