Botswana: MYSC to reserve P70 million for support of youth businesses

Botswana Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC) has reserved more than P70 million for support of youth businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news report by Daily News.

Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Tumiso Rakgare has briefed the media about economic support to youth microenterprises, sport, and the creative sector on Monday, May 18, and said that the economic relief funds were designed to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

This is for youths who do not qualify for subsidies as per the conditions set by the COVID-19 Economic Advisory Committee.

Rakgare said although the relief would not be enough, it was meant to assist the athletes, arts and culture practitioners and youth businesses to have something to live in the meantime.

Tumiso Rakgare has said that they were intervening with relief initiatives to support youth businesses to bridge the gap so that youth companies, the sport, and creative industries would not collapse.

He said if youth businesses were to be overlooked, it would result in over 11 000 people losing their jobs and revenue sources.

Concerning the sporting codes, Rakgare said the ministry would pay P2500 each for full-time employees and professional athletes over a period of three months and the total cost would be P4 306 500 of the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) budget.

Rakgare has pointed out that the Botswana Premier League (BPL), First Division League (FDL), both north and south, and the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) had been most affected by the current extreme social distancing regulations.