Own Correspondent
GABORONE – Stanbic Bank Botswana has pledged to make a more substantive contribution towards changing the Youth Employability narrative in Botswana.
The Stanbic Bank Botswana AcceleR8 space, an incubator and co-working space, was officially launched Tuesday to contribute towards this narrative.
It is housed at Fairgrounds Mall Shop No. G26, and is now open to the public, giving local youth and entrepreneurs an opportunity to accelerate their growth journeys.
Samuel Minta, Stanbic Bank Botswana Chief Executive, said, “A crucial challenge for Botswana, and indeed across Africa, is the provision of sufficient economic livelihoods for our growing population, especially for younger people. Youth face an uncertain and volatile future.”
He said, “They are challenged in finding jobs with only 10% of 20,000 new graduates in Botswana annually finding formal employment; and the 30% daring to start enterprises, face a failure rate of over 70%. We strongly believe that our youth are our future, and we must invest in and work with them to create an ecosystem that moves youth unemployment to a single digit number.”
This is part of a wider Youth Employability Agenda of the Bank over the next 3 years, where Stanbic Botswana is investing up to P6 million towards a number of associated workstreams, this being 1% of the Bank’s Profit After Tax as a business.
This initiative benefits all in the long term, and only sustainable, collaborative, and co-created platforms will make a true impact here. This is about Stanbic Bank and our partners inspiring a future of impactful YOUTH for Business Ownership and Employable Skills.
The Bank’s overarching aspiration is to improve the lives of Batswana in line with its Business Strategy which includes the Youth Employability Agenda.
The Bank aims to empower Botswana’s youth with the necessary motivation and infrastructure to help improve employability. This is yet another opportunity for the Bank to help build legacies and invest in youth employability and entrepreneurship, working with key partners and stakeholders across the public and private sector to realise this ambition.
This entails co-creating a sustainable solution on Youth Employability. Ultimately, this should contribute towards:
- Reducing youth unemployment;
- Increasing export diversification; and
- Driving Wealth Creation for the Youth.
It serves as a dynamic and fluid platform for youth to fuel innovation and ideation, as well as incubation for impactful businesses: a connected world to inspire youth’s next chapters, from talks and events to working groups, facilitated sessions, mentorship and coaching; and a curated space with training rooms, a boardroom, co-working spaces, and an event space. AcceleR8 is not, the Bank notes, a job / recruitment centre, a physical market place for sales, free office space or a loan application centre. Indeed, it serves no commercial gain for Stanbic Bank.
This initiative is part of Stanbic Bank’s Social Economic and Environmental (SEE) Value Driver, which seeks to ensure that Stanbic Bank sustainability is inextricably linked to the wellbeing and prosperity of the societies in which the Bank is privileged to operate. This also speaks to Stanbic Bank’s Strategic purpose that “Botswana is our home and we drive her growth.
“The aim of the Banks is to ensure financial inclusion which is paramou8nt towards socio-economic progress. It can aid national growth and welfare in a number of ways as noted in the National Financial Inclusion Roadmap and Strategy 2015/21. This includes generation of employment, development of human capital and direct improvement at household welfare,” said Ms Peggy Serame, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry.
She said, “This is aligned to our Vision 2036, National development Plan 11 and the Sustainable Development Goals 2020. It is against this background that I believe the project by the Bank will contribute to the attainment of the national objectives.”
