Not so long ago we wrote on this space the extent to which high unemployment levels especially among young people are robbing the country of its competitive edge.
We also highlighted the extent to which if not properly addressed unemployment will become a security and strategic issue, especially when as it now seems more to be the case, it starts to undermine national efforts to fight crime.
Thankfully for Botswana, we can draw solace from the fact that it would seem like government leadership at long last fully appreciates what is at stake, that is if various public statements by President Ian Khama, chiefly the last State of the Nation address are anything to go by.
What is more important however is to see the public statements transforming into concrete actions on the ground.
That unfortunately is not yet the case.
Many government programmes aimed at empowering the youth are fragmented and incoherent.
Implementation is haphazard and lacks direction.
The ministry responsible for youth seems itself to be either badly run, poorly resourced or both.
Take for example the Youth Fund.
This is a very good scheme that with strong controls could actually empower the youth to become employers of their colleagues.
But that has not been the case so far.
Access to the funds is itself very difficult.
Disbursements are capricious as too much power is given to officers who are themselves not even clear of what the Fund’s rules are.
Because there are no clear rules, the Fund has been transformed into a source of power and patronage for those responsible for disbursing the money.
As for other youth programmes like the so called boot camp, the less it is said about it, the better.
Every year Botswana’s education system churns out thousands and thousands of young Batswana many of who spend close to a decade idling because they cannot get an opportunity to gainfully engage themselves.
These young people now include a good number of who have received tertiary education, at great cost to the country.
Something has to be done to help our young people.
What is important is to accept the fact that Government, no matter how wealthy cannot be expected to employ all of these people.
Rather that responsibility should fall squarely on the shoulders of the private sector.
Sadly our government is not doing enough to empower the private sector.
There is still too much red-tape, prices of utilities are high, tax regime is prohibitive and as a country we are not doing near enough to appreciate the fact that citizens too can be investors and employers.
Talk to any businessman and the first thing they say when they open their mouth is to complain on how difficult it has become to get either work or residence permits for their prospective employees who possess skills that we do not have locally.
This has now raised to new levels the already existing charges and international perceptions that Batswana are xenophobic.
We need to import skills to be able to grow the private sector which is the key towards reducing unemployment among our youth.
We need to do something with unemployment in this country before it explodes to levels which will be uncontrollable ÔÇô socially, politically and economically.
Already it is very easy to discern a lot of anger, resentment and despondency among many of young people.
Many of them feel that they do not owe this country a thing because by their own interpretation, rightly or wrongly, this country has not shown them any compassion at a time when they are most vulnerable.
