Unemployment hot topic in Parly
Unemployment statistics have become a hot topic in Parliament, with Members of Parliament (MP) regularly raising concerns and seeking answers from government officials on how many Batswana do not have jobs. In a recent response, it was revealed that exactly 275,160 people are unemployed.
The issue came to the fore last week when the Minister of Finance, Peggy Serame, had to disclose that a staggering number of 275,160 people are unemployed. The revelation came shortly after the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Annah Mokgethi, updated Parliament on the figures of unemployed graduates and the total percentage of jobless people in the country.
The first query came from the MP for Serowe South, Leepetswe Lesedi, who highlighted the alarming rise in unemployment rates in the country and sought the number of people with qualifications who are without jobs.
He also enquired about the factors that are contributing to the challenge.
Mokgethi informed Parliament that exactly 47,269 graduates were unemployed with the percentage of all people unemployed lingering at 25.9%. Few weeks down the line after Mokgethi apprised Parliament on the figures, the questions resurfaced last week.
This time around the questions were from the MP Gaborone North, Mpho Balopi. Just like Lesedi, he had sought answers on the latest unemployment figures in Botswana, level of graduate unemployment and distribution of unemployment between male and female in the country, amongst others. With unemployment incessantly proving to be a burning topic in Parliament, Serame had to be the one providing the answers this time around as the questions were directed to her ministry not Mokgethi’s.
Serame disclosed the same information Mokgethi provided to Parliament before. She revealed the same number of unemployed graduates. “The results also show that the total number of unemployed graduates is standing at 47,269 which is 17.2% of the unemployed population. “This, however, shows a drop of 4.1 percent in the unemployed graduates when compared to the quarter four of 2022,” Serame remarked. From the graduates figure, 11,359 are from technical/vocational, while 10,035 are from educational. The Institutes
of Health Sciences (IHS) has a total of 298 while the universities formed the highest number of graduates which is 30,496.
Serame stated that the statistics are authentic and that government for most part of 2023 undertook a survey, ‘Quarterly Multi Topic Survey’, to ascertain the number of people without jobs. Through the survey, she denoted that government was able to establish the number of the unemployed people. “The latest Quarterly Multi Topic Survey, quarter three of 2023, showed a total of 275,160 were unemployed in Botswana.
This constitutes 25.9% of the total labour force,” Serame revealed. The minister highlighted that the gigantic number of jobless people is formed by people who are aged 15 years and above locally. She further revealed that it was established that from the 275, 160 unwaged people, females constituted the highest number of unemployed people compared to their male counterparts. “The distribution shows that there were 144,590 females and 128,570 males unemployed which translates to 53% females and 47% males respectively,” she said. In response to the concerns raised, Serame elaborated that government is not sitting idle with the issue, but it is coming up with strategies to combat the challenge.
“Government, through the National Employment Policy (NEP), continues to make efforts to promote productive, gainful and decent employment for Batswana through strengthening growth of employment in the private sector, reforming education and training system improving flow of information between job seekers and job openings, strengthening employment programmes and developing a framework for coherent and coordinated policies,” she said.
She further explained that government is mediating the situation with the provision of start-up financing through the Youth Development Fund (YDF) and many other strategies. “Other notable efforts include promoting mineral beneficiation within the diamond industry in order to create employment opportunities through the development of value chains in that industry, livestock production enhancement and many more,” Serame stated. The two enquiries underscored the complex nature of unemployment crisis in Botswana. The discussions in Parliament reflected broader public concerns about the economic impact of high unemployment rates and the social implications.