03 Jun 2026

Botswana's plans to attract foreign investment and transform its economy are being undermined by a growing shortage of critical skills, a challenge that government now considers one of the biggest obstacles to national development.

This was said by the Ministry of Higher Education permanent secretary, Professor Richard Tabulawa, during a courtesy call paid on the Minister, Mr Prince Maele by the Indian High Commissioner to Botswana, Mr Bharath Kumar Kuthati in Gaborone on Monday.

"The acute skills shortages and a mismatch between graduate qualifications and industry needs are discouraging potential investors and weakening the country's competitiveness," he said.

Prof. Tabulawa said investors frequently raised concerns about the availability of skilled labour before committing resources to the country.

"We interact with investors and industry players all the time, and one of the first issues they raise is whether the required skills are available in Botswana. If those skills are lacking, many choose to relocate or withdraw their investments altogether," he added.

He expressed concern that the challenge extended across several sectors, particularly mining, where companies continued to report shortages of specialised skills despite the growing number of unemployed graduates.

The situation, Prof. Tabulawa said reflected years of disconnect between educational institutions and industry requirements, resulting in graduates who often possessed qualifications that did not match labour market demands.

To address the problem, he said the Ministry of Higher Education was pursuing a major shift in policy that would give industry a leading role in determining the skills and competencies taught in tertiary institutions.

"The old model allowed institutions to decide what industry needed. We are now reversing that approach and allowing industry to lead curriculum development so that graduates leave our institutions with skills that employers actually require," he said.

Professor Tabulawa further noted that the reforms formed part of government's broader strategy to revitalise Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), which it viewed as critical to driving industrialisation, job creation and economic growth.

He also revealed that the country's long-term goal was to have 60 per cent of tertiary students enrolled in TVET programmes, compared to 40 per cent pursuing traditional academic and professional pathways.

The permanent secretary also highlighted capacity constraints within tertiary institutions themselves, particularly the need to improve the qualifications and competencies of lecturers responsible for training future graduates.

He said the country was looking to strengthen cooperation with India in higher education and skills development, including through a possible Memorandum of Understanding that could support lecturer training and institutional capacity building.

Professor Tabulawa pointed to India and China as examples of countries that had successfully leveraged strong technical and vocational education systems to accelerate economic development and industrial growth.

He said Botswana also intended to draw lessons from such models as it sought to build a workforce capable of meeting the demands of a modern economy and attracting investment needed to create jobs for its growing population. ENDS