Botswana’s bold digital transformation agenda under the Draft National Development Plan 12 (NDP 12) faces a critical test: a workforce that remains largely unprepared for the high-tech future envisioned by policymakers.
When Minister of Communications and Innovation, David Tshere, presented the digitalisation chapter of NDP 12 to Parliament on October 24, he promised an ambitious future 100,000 ICT jobs by 2030, universal broadband coverage, and a 20 percent GDP contribution from the digital economy. But behind this optimism lies a sobering reality of structural unemployment, outdated training, and limited industrial absorption capacity.
According to the 2025 Priority Skills Report, Botswana’s national unemployment rate stood at 27.6 percent in early 2024, one of the highest in the region. The problem is structural rather than cyclical a persistent mismatch between what the education system produces and what industries demand.
The employed population declined from 788,616 in 2023 to 754,147 in 2024, a 4.4 percent drop, with job losses concentrated in construction, manufacturing, information and communication, and real estate. The construction sector alone shed over 12,500 jobs.
Graduate unemployment paints an even grimmer picture. The number of jobless graduates surged by 18.5 percent, from 59,528 in 2023 to 70,512 in 2024. The majority hold degrees in business, finance, and administration fields oversupplied by tertiary institutions due to their low infrastructure demands. The Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA) confirms that Business, Commerce, and Management Services account for 228 of the 994 accredited qualifications, the highest of any field.
By contrast, STEM and technical disciplines remain under-enrolled, despite being central to Botswana’s transition into a knowledge-based economy. “We have an oversupply of theory-driven graduates and a shortage of practically skilled workers,” the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) noted, warning that this imbalance is eroding Botswana’s competitiveness.
Even the digital sector, expected to drive economic transformation, is struggling. The Priority Skills Report shows that ICT graduate unemployment rose from 1,557 in 2023 to 3,837 in 2024 a 146 percent increase. Ironically, ICT is a designated growth area under NDP 12, yet most openings are project-based or require three to five years of experience in advanced fields like data analytics, software development, and cybersecurity.
Moreover, the report shows insights that training institutions are still producing graduates without hands-on experience, “creating a paradox of high demand for digital skills but low employability.”
The mining and manufacturing sectors tell similar stories. Employment in mining dropped by 13.1 percent, while manufacturing lost about 11,083 jobs (19.5 percent) in 2024. Many mining and engineering graduates remain unemployed as companies adopt automation and smart mining technologies that require specialised digital skills. Manufacturing graduates, trained under outdated curricula, struggle to find jobs as industries transition to AI-assisted and green production.
The HRDC report warns that the labour market’s structure itself is part of the problem: 43.9 percent of formal sector employees hold only secondary school qualifications, while only 25.6 percent possess university degrees. This imbalance perpetuates a workforce dominated by semi-skilled labour, limiting innovation and productivity.
According to data from Statistics Botswana’s Quarterly Multi-Topic Survey (Q1 2024) and the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) Annual Report previously highlighted that 62 percent of Botswana’s workforce has no formal training, and only 17,758 employees have computer-related skills — an alarming shortfall for a country pursuing digital transformation. Women continue to dominate tertiary enrolments (nearly 60 percent) but remain underrepresented in STEM fields and technical roles.
Honourable Tshere’s speech acknowledged “glaring gender disparities” and “uneven distribution of skills,” but stopped short of introducing a gender-responsive reskilling framework or concrete investment in human capital. Instead, the bulk of the NDP 12 digitalisation strategy focuses on infrastructure expanding optical fibre networks, building data centres, and launching satellites like BOTSAT-1 and BOTSAT-2.
These efforts, while valuable, could fall flat without parallel investment in human capacity.
To Put it simply Digitalisation cannot succeed if the majority of citizens lack digital literacy ultimately running the risk risk building advanced infrastructure that the workforce cannot meaningfully use.”
Despite these challenges, there are bright spots. The planned National Research and Innovation Council, the Unified eServices Platform, and legislative frameworks such as the Digital Services and Cybersecurity Bills demonstrate strong institutional intent. However, the success of these initiatives depends on whether government aligns them with training reforms, private sector engagement, and gender inclusion.
The Priority Skills Report concludes that Botswana’s unemployment problem is both quantitative and qualitative too few jobs being created, and the skills of the unemployed not matching market demand. It recommends education and training reforms that prioritise entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation, rather than reliance on traditional wage employment.
