Botswana Jobs

OPIC’s political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide. Over the agency’s 32-year history, OPIC has supported $150 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate over 690,000 host-country jobs. OPIC projects have also generated $66 billion in U.S. exports and created more than 257,000 American jobs. ... [Read More]

Botswana

Well-trained urban women had growing entry- and mid-level access to white collar jobs, but the number of opportunities decreased sharply as they rose to senior management. ...

The law permits a maximum 48-hour workweek, exclusive of overtime, that is payable at time and a half for each additional hour. Most modern private sector jobs had a 40-hour workweek; however, the public sector had a 48-hour workweek. ...

Formal sector jobs generally paid well above minimum wage levels. Informal sector employment, particularly in the agricultural and domestic service sectors, where housing and food were included, frequently paid below the minimum wage. There was no mandatory minimum wage for domestic workers, and the Ministry of Labor did not recommend a minimum wage for them. ... [Read More]

Botswana

Unions were independent of the Government and were not closely allied with any political party or movement. Unions may employ full-time administrative staff, but the law requires elected union officials to work full-time in the industry that the union represents. This rule severely limited union leaders' professionalism and effectiveness and was criticized by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). In July, Parliament passed a law eliminating this requirement; the law was awaiting signature by the President at year's end. Workers may not be fired for union-related activities. Dismissals on other grounds may be appealed to civil courts or labor officers, which rarely ordered more than 2 months' severance pay. Unions may join international organizations, and the BFTU was affiliated with the ICFTU. The Minister of Labor must approve any affiliation with an outside labor movement; however, unions ... [Read More]

AGOA FORUM HIGHLIGHTS U.S. COMMITMENT TO AFRICAN PROSPERITY - "Gaborone Botswana"

We are also drawing on Africa’s strong tradition of entrepreneurship to help build prosperity. USAID has forged partnerships with European as well as American companies to help create jobs and raise incomes in Africa, and to increase African exports. The Cisco Networking Alliance, for example, has partnered with 25 African countries to establish information technology (IT) training academies at 75 institutions throughout the continent. According to tracking data from those academies, 77 percent of their graduates have found jobs in a field that can help accelerate the growth of the IT industry in Africa and provide a critical tool for economic development. ... [Read More]

Communique: First SADC-U.S. Forum, Gaborone, Botswana

The Forum focused on ways and means of improving the climate for foreign and domestic investment in the SADC region. The Forum recognized the importance of creating an environment needed to attract the investment to create new jobs and generate economic growth and prosperity. It noted the importance of strengthening an entrepreneurial environment, privatization and/or restructuring of state assets, the rule of law, and the pursuit of sound macroeconomic policies and regulatory regimes, as a prerequisite for sustained growth and sustainable development. ... [Read More]

USTR Zoellick to Discuss Regional Free Trade Agreement on Visit to South Africa

WASHINGTON - The proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and the five member countries of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) will be the main focus of U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick's January 13 visit to South Africa. Zoellick will meet in Pretoria with the Trade Ministers of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland to discuss a roadmap and timetable for forthcoming FTA negotiations. Discussions will begin in February, with U.S. and SACU officials meeting to plan the negotiating process and develop an effective negotiating framework. Additionally, U.S. trade capacity funds will assist SACU countries in identifying their technical negotiating needs. "Today we are opening a new era – we are embarking with these FTA negotiations on a path to mutual economic growth and to ... [Read More]

AGOA Successes and Challenges in Target Sectors

In the southern Africa region, since 2002, for instance, Lesotho has seen the opening of twelve new apparel factories and the expansion of eight existing plants, resulting in the creation of 25,000 new jobs. Now, for the first time, manufacturing employment in Lesotho exceeds government employment, and Lesotho has become the second largest exporter of manufactured products to the U.S. from Sub-Saharan Africa.In Namibia, new textile and apparel investments totaling $300 million resulted in 10,000 jobs. In South Africa, AGOA has been d ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Peace Corps on Front Lines of Global HIV/AIDS Education

Access to modern communications technology greatly aids volunteers' ability to locate up-to-date training materials in a variety of languages that help them in their jobs, she said. For example, she said, volunteers in the field can access an online book of stories on HIV/AIDS prevention behaviors. ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Fact Sheet: G8 Plan Would Help Private Sector Alleviate Poverty

The U.S. will expand its already robust microfinance program, which is currently active in 58 countries, reaching over 5 million clients worldwide with total combined loans of more than $2.5 billion. For example, the U.S. is working in Egypt with nine partner institutions to develop lending programs that have extended more than 1.3 million loans from 1990-2003, creating more than 300,000 jobs. Forty percent of borrowers are women. ...

Private Sector-Led Development: President Bush's development policies, such as the Millennium Challenge Account initiative, emphasize promoting economic freedom and entrepreneurship as key drivers of job creation and poverty reduction. A recent U.N. report, "Unleashing Entrepreneurship: Making Business Work for the Poor," highlights the private sector's role as "the source of growth, jobs, and opportunities for the poor." ... [Read More]