As part of its commitment, the bank announced the establishment of a Youth Hub. An online platform dedicated to building capacity as well as upskill the vulnerable youth group aged between 18 -25 against the high unemployment rate in Botswana.
The newly established programme is in collaboration with youth owned entity, iBranch Recruiters. iBranch Recruiters is an innovative company registered with the Botswana Innovation Hub and enrolled under the Incubation Programme. The Youth Hub will utilize the bank’s existing program of ReadytoWork as well as additional programmes provided by iBranch Recruiters to assist human resource practitioners connect with role specific candidates in real time.
“As Absa Bank Botswana, we are deeply invested in the current challenges faced by Botswana’s youth. We recognise that in Botswana and as in the rest of our continent, a key challenge is the high level of youth unemployment. We understand that young people face significant challenges in realising their ambitions, many linked to limited opportunities, and lack of skills. As a bank, we recognise that our future lies in the hands of our youth, and we therefore have a role to play in creating an ecosystem that supports youth employability in Botswana,” said Keabetswe Pheko-Moshagane , Absa Bank Botswana Managing Director.
The Youth Hub has a Career Development Programme that focuses on upskilling youth and assisting them with becoming employed. The specific services provided at the Youth Hub include career services programme such as CV writing, interviewing skills, email & sms Job notifications, preparation for aptitude tests, industrial training, and internships. Moreover, the Youth Hub will provide entrepreneurship development through the mentorship of youth entrepreneurs in partnership with the Enterprise and Supply Chain Development (ESD) Programme and masterclasses with experts on various aspects of entrepreneurship.
“Since inception in 2018, our primary objective is to link jobseekers to employers with pin point accuracy. To the date of this communiqué, we have successfully aided over 2,000 Batswana to employment acquisition and successfully trained over 300 Batswana through our existing Career Development Program. All these are part of our efforts of transforming ordinary jobseekers into Job Ready and Employable candidates of tomorrow. Our collaboration will Absa Bank Botswana comes at an opportune time as it will help us scale our efforts and make more impact in the lives of Batswana at large.” said Tshepiso Leinane, iBranch Recruiters.
“Improving youth employability is one of our top priorities in our Citizenship agenda. As a bank, we are dedicated to making a true impact through sustainable collaborations and partnerships such as these. We remain dedicated and passionate about driving positive change in the communities we operate in and getting things done for our people,” concluded Keabetswe Pheko-Moshagane.
