Unemployment amongst the youth continues to rise despite the government’s well intentioned

policies and programmes. Several factors contributing to the rising unemployment have been
identified and these include shortages of skills and lack of finance (Siphambe, 2003). However, what
has not been ascertained is whether the ineffective policies and programme are due to ineffective
implementation or to lack of empirical research. During the period 2004 and 2010 the country
experienced fluctuating employments rates. This period coincided with the revision of the National
Youth Policy and the introduction of programmes like the Kick Start to address youth unemployment
(Diraditsile, 2017).

Because of the obvious advantage of job creating, economic development and

a solution to social issues, government policies in the at regional, national and
local levels are focusing effort, resources and crafting policies that is
specifically target at entrepreneurial development (Audretsch, Grilo and Thurik,
2007). However, It is possible to have an environment that hinders entrepreneurship.
This is evident in the policies and regulations of some governments because
they are simply anti-entrepreneurship or at best they create entry barriers and
unfavourable environment for entrepreneurship (Klapper, Laeven and Rajan, 2006

In 1996, the Government formally adopted the first National Policy on Youth (Youth Policy, 1996) as
its chief strategy for youth development. By doing so, if mainly for pragmatic rather than political
reasons, the government recognized that the youth are disadvantaged and need urgent attention.
However, this recognition did not translate into creating sustainable employment opportunities and
improving quality of life for the youth in a meaningful way. Instead, there have been increasing
concerns that the Youth Policy has not fully achieved its objectives (Youth Policy, 2010; Morima,
2012).

Siphambe, H. K. (2003). Understanding unemployment in Botswana.

Diraditsile, K., & Ontetse, M. A. (2017). Lived experiences and consequences of unemployment on
women: An empirical study of unemployed young women in Mahalapye, Botswana. Journal of
International Women's Studies, 18(4), 131-143.

Klapper, L., Laeven, L., & Rajan, R. (2006). Entry regulation as a barrier to entrepreneurship. Journal
of financial economics, 82(3), 591-629.

Audretsch, D. B., Grilo, I., & Thurik, A. R. (Eds.). (2007). Handbook of research on entrepreneurship
policy. Edward Elgar Publishing.