Over 3,000 Limkokwing University graduates have been asked to drive the country’s economic diversification through venturing into businesses that will create employment.

Speaking on Friday at the third graduation ceremony of Limko, as the institution is popularly known, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dorcus Makgato-Malesu, said the graduating class must look at what skills made them a cut above the rest and any novelty they can bring to the market.

“As you graduate, you need to ask yourself what makes you a cut above the rest to able to fight in this vicious aggressive market,” Makgato-Malesu said.

She urged them to use what they learnt in school to harness opportunities presented by their country’s economic diversification drive. The graduates must hunger to become employers
rather than hope to be absorbed by the job market, as is the common practice.

“Be selective and find a niche so that you can employ others as well,” she said, adding that the quality of what they ventured into was important as well. The minister said while many people hold the view that the international world presented endless opportunities, the situation on the ground is different. Nonetheless, there were numerous business opportunities in the Botswana economy, many of them in tourism, she noted.

“Beyond the borders, it looks greener, but the truth is (that) there are opportunities for growth within this economy,” she said. “Tread where others feared.” Regarding tertiary education, Makgato-Malesu said government had carried the burden alone until 2007. Thankfully, the private sector had since joined the effort to develop the country’s human resources, she added.

Limko’s class of 2011 brings its alumni to nearly 6,000. As students, the graduates studied programmes ranging from media communications to business and entrepreneurship.