Botswana is developing a national productivity and competitiveness policy, according to a senior labour officer, to tackle a fall in economic growth, living standards and labour productivity.

According to recent reports published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Botswana’s global competitiveness has fallen after it ranked in 90th place out of 140 countries in 2018 and declined further to 91 a year later.
As such, together with the European Union, Botswana is devising a policy to combat labour productivity within the EU Policy Dialogue Facility. 

“Productivity and competitiveness challenges have resulted in a high unemployment rate in Botswana estimated at 25.4%. Productivity is a requisite for economic growth and employment,” said the director for productivity and competitiveness in Botswana’s Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs, Bonnie Jim.

The policy is designed to coordinate and complement roles among stakeholders. These include Botswana’s government, business, political and labour organisations, development partners and communities, amongst others, Xinhua News Agency reports.

“It will provide a platform for collective responsibility on productivity and competitiveness issues through the promotion of dialogue, awareness, and linkages at national, sectorial, and community levels,” Jim went on to add.

The national productivity and competitiveness policy is designed to address Botswana’s productivity and competitiveness challenges in a more coordinated way, throughout all levels of the country’s economy, the director stated.

Furthermore, the policy is long overdue, according to Thomas Boga, a labour expert and senior law lecturer at the University of Botswana: “There is an urgent need to re-vamp the national value system, which points to work ethic and mindset issues,” he said.

Boga added that productivity education needs to be improved within national structures, including at community level: “For Botswana to improve her competitiveness, productivity improvement is critical, hence the need for investment in this area.”