Africa-Press – Botswana. Participation of high level Kenyan and Namibian officials in the Forbes 30 under 30 summit is indicative of the two countries’ keen interest in supporting youth-owned enterprises.
Welcoming his Kenya and Namibia counterparts Mr Rigathi Gachagua and Mr Nangolo Mbumba respectively Monday, Vice President Slumber Tsogwane said this was the first time the event was graced by senior government officials of their calibre.
Botswana is hosting the summit for the second time.
Mr Tsogwane outlined government entrepreneurial development initiatives which included targeted funding schemes citing the women empowerment and the Youth Development Fund (YDF) targeting young entrepreneurs aged between 16 and 35.
Expounding on YDF, the vice president said it started off as 100 per cent grant but with time, it evolved into 50 per cent loan and 50 per cent grant as a way of encouraging commitment to running successful enterprises.
It was designed as a revolving fund hence it remained essential for beneficiaries to pay back the loan, explained Mr Tsogwane.
The vice president told his guests that government had established the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) which offered entrepreneurs loans at very low interest rates without demanding contribution or security.
He said the intervention was meant to encourage and support entrepreneurial development in Botswana.
Turning to the agricultural sector, Mr Tsogwane said farmers were assisted with subsidies through provision of seeds, machinery and fencing with the intention of boosting local food production.
He pointed out that Botswana’s economy had been on reliant on diamonds but it had taken time for the country to appreciate value chain development within the sector.
Government was now focusing on diamond beneficiation as well as development of tourism and agriculture value chains, he said.
Mr Tsogwane said a RESET agenda aimed at changing the way things had been done had been introduced in order to attain the nation’s aspiration of becoming a high income economy by 2036.
The aspiration called for the re-engineering of some processes, he said.
Noting that Botswana had a high youth unemployment rate, the vice president said with the myriad of initiatives available, it was essential to cultivate mindset change among citizens as a way of encouraging the programmes’ exploitation.
Applauding Botswana on it’s successful hosting of the summit for the second time, Mr Gachagua said it was important to empower African youths and have a detailed succession plan that would nurture them to become future leaders.
He said attendance of the summit would also afford Kenya the opportunity to benchmark on Botswana’s beef and tourism sectors.
In his remarks, Mr Mbumba said the summit brought all to come and witness what made the African continent tick.
He said all sectors of the economy belonged in the hands of young people hence it was important for leaders to maintain the stability of administrations, companies and promote all nation’s prosperity plans.
Mr Mbumba said the use of identity cards as travel documents between Botswana and Namibia was a significant milestone which would greatly advance the business sector.
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