26 Nov 2023

Botswana as part of the global world, is equally affected by world labour market trends and technological evolution.

Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development Mr Aubrey Lesaso told Parliament that the use of technology to improve service delivery and increase productivity levels was therefore critical for the development of various economic sectors.

He said with the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, skills were changing rapidly and in that regard, the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) continuously provided forecasted skills critical to the growth of the economy across various sectors.

He said between 2024-2028, 20 top skills forecasted in high demand across various sectors of the economy included veterinarians (including specialists), manufacturing, mining, construction and distribution managers, architects, planners, surveyors and designers, nursing and midwifery professionals, legal professionals (including specialists) as well as  medical doctors.

The list also extends to process control technicians, travel attendants, conductors and guides, primary school and early childhood teachers as well as blacksmiths, tool makers and related trade workers.

Hotel and restaurant managers, textile, fur and leather products machine operators, physical and earth science professionals, aircraft controllers and technicians, retail and wholesale trade managers, database and network professionals, university lecturers and higher education teachers, telecommunications and broadcasting technicians, veterinary technicians and assistants, metal processing and finishing plant operators are also part of the top 20 skills in high demand.

He said in an effort to improve service delivery and productivity levels across various sectors of the economy, the country needed the skills and jobs comprising; robotics and automation, machine learning, artificial intelligence, fin-tech specialists, data engineering, mobile technologies, cloud computing, content creation, social media management, and ethical hacking.

He said the demand would be monitored annually, adding that the mining and agriculture sectors were beginning to use smart technologies and machinery to improve efficiency and productivity levels.

He said the ministry through HRDC would continue to monitor the evolution of the skills and advise accordingly to plan for the development of future skills.

However, he noted that it was evident that with the impact of climate change, there would be a need for innovative technology solutions to address natural and human-induced disasters such as pests, animal health and desertification.

To this end, he said new technologies addressing agribusiness and skills therein would be prioritised, adding the HRDC recently held a makeathon where youth-led innovations demonstrated the use of technology solutions in robotics, artificial intelligence, computerised technologies and energy management to address agricultural production.

The minister said apart from the cross-cutting digital skills, there was a need to develop emerging and future skills to support the development of key value chains like agro-processing and mineral beneficiation.

Minister Lesaso said following the approval of the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) strategy, the tourism and hospitality sectors would need the following skills to fully implement the strategy; MICE specialists, digital sales and marketing experts, and events managers.

He said as part of supporting the just transition, the country needed to fast-track the development of green skills that would enable a smooth transition to carbon and environmentally sustainable economy.  He noted that the above-mentioned skills and professions were projected to be top earners in the next five to 10 years, therefore any industry utilising these was expected to fall in that bracket.

Specially elected MP, Dr Unity Dow had wanted to know the skills projected to be critical and important to the economy for the next 10 years. ends