BOTSWANA COUNTRY REPORT

1. BOTSWANA COUNTRY REPORT By Trywell Kalusopa & E. Tswaipe ILO Course on Research & Youth Employment TURIN, ITALY

2. Botswana: Development Potential & Profile According to 2005/06 Labour Force Survey (LFS), population of Botswana is estimated at 1,702,829; of which 798,460 (46.9%) were males and 904,369 (53.1%) were female 68% of this population estimated to be economically active. Maintained a stable and steady economic growth since 1966 and now considered middle-income country Depends on extraction of diamond which account 70-80% of export earning and contributes 36% f GDP Large exporter of beef; agriculture contributes about 3% Stable political structure - multi-party with election every five years with the Botswana democratic party having ruled since independence in 1966 Has national assembly of 57 and President not elected directly Has house of Chiefs that is advisory with input from traditional kgotla system Rated as least corrupt in Africa (Transparent International Index)

3. Economic Profile: Question of Growth Trends show that indicate that the economy grew by: 3.4% growth in 2003/04 9.2% growth in 2004/05 4.4% growth for 2005/06 Expected to grow by 6% in 2006/07 The preliminary 2005/06 data shows 4.4% decline in the mining sector real GDP while the non-mining sectors of agriculture, manufacturing and construction declined by 3% from 2004/05 to 2005/06 (Ministry of Finance, 2007). The slower than originally forecast performance of the non-mining sectors for the first part of the Development Plan period was affected by a loss of competitiveness in the export and import competing sectors associated with real exchange rate appreciation and slow implementation of important policy reforms (BIDPA, 2006) Current Inflation currents stands at 11.1%

4. Unemployment Challenges Reports show increasing unemployment rate in Botswana: Annual Economic Report(2003, HIES, 2002/03) indicate: 1991 (13.9%), 1993/94 (21.6%), 2001 (19.6%), 2002/03 (23.8%), Adeyemi (1997) puts unemployment rate of university graduates for 1993 and 1994 at 6% and 10% respectively Silas and Gabaitiri (2005) put the unemployment rate among University of Botswana graduates at 27% (most are at least 25) MSCT (2005) unemployment rate among ICT graduate is 43% with 25% failing to be employed in last 6 months, 21.5% for 12 months and over Unemployment growing at the national level currently estimated 23.8% (HIES, 2002-03) Overall youth unemployment now estimated at 27.4% (CSO, 2006) Female youth unemployment is 31.8% while male youth is 23.3% (CSO, 2006)

6. Challenges of Development The dependence on the extraction of the minerals esp. diamonds (question of enclavity) National economic growth has not led to sustainable human development and employment Efficacy of the legislative and policy framework on employment Efficacy of policies on education, training and skills development 6

7. Development Challenges contd. Lack of the exploitation of the rural areas to create job opportunities esp. for youth: uneffectiveness of the rural development strategies in employment creation Impact of HIV/AIDS on the productive youth employment Digital divide 7

8. National Development Strategies • Vision 2016 • NDP 9 – 10 (MDG based planning) • National Poverty Reduction strategy

9. Trade Union Reactions on Development in Botswana Legislative Framework Technical capacity to analyze and monitor national development strategies Information base, linkages & networking lacking Trade Unions powerless in the face of government’s drive to obtain Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) at the detriment of decent work

10. What should be the strategic focus • Carrying out an assessment of the ways in which the labour movement can engage and promote the issues of employment. • Creating programmes that link labour movement with in the informal sector. This will should involve embarking on working with informal groups such as farm, transport and domestic workers to promote an agenda of decent work. • Monitoring the process of the legislation of privatization so that interests of workers are secured.

11. Strategic Focus??? • Monitoring the establishment of the Local Enterprise Authority which is the engine to rural development and employment generation so that there is a bias towards employment. •  Developing and proposing a Skills Development Programme that will target skills development for the youth. •  Assessing Small Medium, Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) training needs and prepare training materials for short courses for the youth.

12. Strategic Focus… Need for a detailed research and analysis of the “school-work” transition process; including the recommendation of specific strategies such as apprenticeship, and other youth training programmes.  Human resources development planning to forecast labour market demands and supply of labour should be reviewed and strengthened. Development of Labour Information System for forecasting demands and supply of training requirements in the formal sector should be encouraged and supported.

13. Strategic Focus… • Incentives of employer-based training such as tax rebates, cost sharing; subsidies should be encouraged to increase multi-skilling of workers that should fit in the knowledge-intensive world. • Vocational training should take the form of training for social demand as well as emphasize training that loops people in self-employment when they cannot be absorbed in the formal sectors. • Specialized training or training of high technology trades should be aligned with human resources requirement in the country since lack of this alignment has always led to unemployment.