Matekane charms youth
Declares youth unemployment a national disaster, unveils SME relief measures
MOSA MAOENG
MASERU – Prime Minister Ntsokoane Matekane has officially declared youth unemployment a national disaster, responding to mounting pressure from young Basotho demanding urgent government action. The announcement came during this week’s National Dialogue on Youth Unemployment in Maseru, where frustrated youths accused the government of inaction amid rising joblessness.
Since March, youth groups have repeatedly called for their plight to be treated as an emergency, citing worsening economic conditions. At the dialogue, attendees voiced grievances, with many stating: “The government is sleeping while we suffer.”
To address the crisis, Matekane unveiled key measures, including waiving licensing fees for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to encourage entrepreneurship. Plans for broader economic reforms, though details remain undisclosed.
While the moves were welcomed, participants stressed the need for swift implementation and transparency.
“Declaring a disaster is not enough – we need real solutions,” said one attendee.
Speaking during a panel of discussions, while applauding the Youth Apprentice Programme for youth ministerial placements, Thapelo Maieane, lamented that when young people complete their terms of employment, they return to their sorry unemployed state.
Maieane said there is a need for youths to be a priority in terms of appointments so that services flow better.
He mentioned that youths have fresh minds and ideas, therefore, it is important for them to be 70 percent priorities in deployment especially within ministries.
He considered this as a short-term solution that can be used to curb unemployment adding that labour migration should be deliberated as it is an important issue.
He said long term solutions could be reviewing the Lesotho curriculum as there are courses that are not eligible to get someone a job, noting that there is need for utter overall of national curriculum from Early Childhood to tertiary. He also recommended that just as the budget speech is held annual, the dialogue should be held annually for review.
Visually impaired youth, Lieketseng Machalotse, noted that there is a serious under representation for youth with disability in opportunities implemented for youth. She pleaded with Prime Minister Matekane to put in a place a policy to ensure at least five percent representations in government ministries and the private sector.
She noted that lack of accessibility with a delay of opportunities to reach them with most government websites read, without supporting audio services for the visually impaired persons and videos with subtitles for the deaf.
“We also have some of our family members who were not able to make it to tertiary, with girls facing unwanted pregnancy while others are facing abuse. We urge the government to consider employing Basotho youth with the Lesotho General Certificate of Secondary Education (LGCSE),” she concluded.
Prime Minister Ntsokoane Matekane had announced sweeping measures to combat youth unemployment, including the removal of licensing fees for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) registering with the Ministry of Trade.
Speaking at a youth forum, Matekane revealed that young entrepreneurs will now pay between M0 and M5 000 for government tenders – a significant reduction from the previous range of M2 000 to M5 000. Additionally, youth will have the freedom to establish businesses in any location without restrictions.
He also said 40 percent of procurement of supplies at different ministries is now reserved for youth businesses.
The prime minister also highlighted ongoing youth empowerment initiatives, such as the Sebabatso Programme, which connects young Basotho entrepreneurs with international peers through the Youth Connext platform to exchange ideas and foster growth.
Further boosting economic opportunities, a weekly Flea Market will be held every Saturday and Sunday at a designated venue, providing a platform for young vendors to showcase their products and services.
These reforms underscore the government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for youth-led businesses and reducing barriers to economic participation.
Previously, Matekane held a public forum on the strategy to curb unemployment had mentioned among others that according to the Bureau of Statistics on Lesotho Labour Force Survey 2024 of the 2.3 million national population 30.1 percent is unemployed despite being of employment age – whereas youth unemployment is 48.8 percent.
He said the approach that government has taken to curb unemployment is to practice labour intensive but still putting skills in the forefront. He said government will employ 6 000 youth who are skilled and unskilled in major works; to employ 8 350 quarterly in waste management with the number of employed youth higher, 1 220 youth will be employed for tree planting under the Climate Resilient Livelihoods.
He said government is yet to employ 450 youth in Wool and Mohair Promotion Project.
“Government will continue with the Sebabatso Initiative to support youth in creativity and their businesses. So far, 1 077 youth have benefitted from this initiative. Through the Pathways to Sustainable Livelihoods Project (PSLP), a project intended to assist Basotho to start businesses, 2 500 have gained with 40 percent being youth. At the moment 950 are being equipped to start their businesses and the second batch to commence soon with the same number of participants,” Matekane said.
He said 1 800 youth have been trained in Technical and Vocational Education and Training with this a success as 95 percent have been employed in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II in the construction of the Polihali Dam with 663 employed in schools feeding schemes to mention a few.
The government has pledged further engagement, but youths warn they will keep pressure on leaders until tangible progress is made.
