09 Nov 2026

The Hopes Alive Initiative for Africa has been hailed as a commendable initiative that has potential for cooperation with Botswana in digital skills training, vocational education, youth entrepreneurship and empowering the girl child.

The initiative seeks to empower young people, support vulnerable children and give the girl child opportunities to contribute meaningfully to society.

President Advocate Duma Boko, therefore, said its objectives aligned well with the government’s deliberate move to place greater emphasis on vocational and technical education to equip young people with practical skills that could enable them to secure employment or establish their own businesses.

The President was speaking during a courtesy call paid on him by Queen Olori Temitope Enitan-Ogunwusi of Nigeria and her delegation at the Office of the President on November 6.  Dr Enitan-Ogunwusi serves as the Deputy Convener of the Hope Alive Initiative for Africa.

He said the country looked forward to working with Hopes Alive Initiative for Africa, adding that cooperation across borders was important in addressing challenges facing young people and the African continent.

“Africa has a young population, with a median age of about 19 years, while Botswana’s median age is approximately 23 years. They are full of hope, energy, creativity and innovation, but despite this, they are also vulnerable to drugs, substance abuse and other harmful behaviours. They need support and guidance to help them remain focused and prevent them from drifting into drug abuse, crime and other social challenges,” President Boko said.

For her part, Dr Enitan-Ogunwusi said the initiative was not limited to Nigeria, having also visited Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and Benin.

She said its intention was to extend hope to people across African countries because Africans were one people and there should be no segregation or discrimination.

She expressed commitment to working with Botswana to keep as many hopes alive as possible and extend reach to many young people.

She said one of the programmes: She-Levate Tech, equipped 60 young women from under-served communities in Lagos with digital skills, including web development, data analytics, digital marketing and design.

Dr Enitan-Ogunwusi said the programme also provided mentorship and career guidance to help participants access opportunities in the technology sector. ENDS