26 Mar 2025

 Francistown City Council is pursuing the reopening of business entities in the city that ceased operating, to create employment opportunities for youth. 

The council also intends to create opportunities for the youth through the tender preference scheme, where a certain amount of tender value is reserved for the youth. 

This was stated by Francistown mayor, Mr Gaone Majere when addressing a full council meeting on Monday where he further said that the council would not only create opportunities but would also empower youth to actively contribute to the growth of the city. 

The council is working on developing the multipurpose youth hub designed to capacitate the youth to become entrepreneurs and job creators, Mr Majere said. He explained the existing hub was not fully developed as it was designed to serve as a space for skills development, creativity and cultural expression, offering programmes in arts, music, and commercial sports. 

It was also there to provide recreational facilities, to encourage a vibrant and healthy community. 

“Currently, we have a thriving project focused on horticulture and recreation housed at the hub which is already providing employment for 15 individuals. We will facilitate the development of Plot 911 to commercialise and promote agro-processing, to create job opportunities for the youth,” Mr Majere added. 

He said that with the city’s economy being stagnant since the closure of Botswana Meat Commission, the council intended to create a dialogue with the relevant ministry on the possibility of re-opening the abattoir, to create the much needed employment opportunity. 

“This will also help revive the cattle industry around the city as farmers will have a structured market to sell their cattle,” he said. 

Mr Majere further stated that Tati Nickel Mine was expected to re-open in May with a projected employment of 400 people, a development expected to boost the city’s economy and support other sectors such as retail property and transport. 

“We shall from time to time engage with the mine on how we can work together to develop the city of Francistown and create value chains around mining operations,” said Mr Majere. 

Mr Majere stated that in the past 18 months, new Anti-Retroviral Virus (ARV) sites had been rolled out in facilities across Francistown. 

In May 2024, Donga, Ntshe and Lapologang were opened as ARV service position sites, while Kagiso and Tshwaragano Clinic ARV sites were rolled out in January and February respectively, Mr Majere said. 

“To date 13 out of 17 clinics provide ARV services in Francistown. The goal is to have all facilities providing this crucial service by the end of 2025,” said. ENDS