25 Mar 2025

The government is looking to boost the development of the sport and creative sectors in order to generate revenue and boost economic activity, the Minister of Sport  and Arts, Mr Jacob Kelebeng has revealed to Parliament.

Presenting his ministry’s 2025-26 budget, which was universally approved by legislators during their Committee of Supply sitting on Monday, Mr Kelebeng said the cultural and creative industry were not merely about entertainment or the preservation of tradition, but were “powerful economic drivers,” accounting for 3.1 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 6.2 per cent of the workforce.

“Although Botswana’s creative sector is still in its infancy stage, with the right nurturing, it has the potential to contribute significantly to the national economy and create employment opportunities for citizens,” Mr Kelebeng said.

Through the National Arts Council of Botswana (NACB), the ministry would drive key initiatives to drive investment, market access and revenue generation, Mr Kelebeng said.

He cited the example of NACB having forged a partnership with the French Delegation in Botswana to develop entrepreneurship within the domestic fashion industry, offer access to international markets and create jobs in the fashion value chain.

He further revealed that the recently developed Sports and Creative Industries Strategy, had identified a number of challenges, among them the regulatory framework, monitoring and evaluation, as well as inadequate public funding and private sector participation, being largely corporate social responsibility.

“As a result, infrastructure and facilities for the sport and creative industries have remained undeveloped and where available, do not meet international standards for either elite sport or creative entrepreneurship,” Mr Kelebeng said. He said his ministry would strengthen stakeholder engagements with key stakeholders to try and augment government investment in sports and the arts.

Parliament approved the ministry’s budget of approximately P627 million, being P524 million recurrent budget and roughly P103 million development budget proposal tabled by the minister.

The development budget includes the construction of community sports stadia, budgeted for at P41.5 million, a state theatre at roughly P12.4 million, construction of Francistown Stadium roof at approximately P10 million, community engagement centres worth P2.2 million and the refurbishment of cultural centres at P1 million.

Prior to their vote, MPs aired different views, amongst them Francistown West legislator, Mr Ignatius Moswaane who said the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium had become a white elephant apart from the occasional period where the national football team, the Zebras played their games.

He added that the Masunga Sports Complex had similarly been under-utilised, and urged the Ministry of Sport and Arts to be proactive, and look to host regular sports events countrywide to ensure facilities were properly utilised. Mr Moswaane also called for development and usage of community multipurpose halls for cultural activities.

Molepolole North MP, Mr Arafat Khan lamented that the Molepolole Sports Complex was in a terrible state and had not been maintained in recent years.

He also complained about the prices charged for the usage of the facility, which he said tended to be high and lacked uniformity.

In addition to calling for a revamp on Molepolole sporting infrastructure, Mr Khan also stressed that sport could be a source of income and that government needed to work on a strategy to ensure talented athletes were able to earn a decent living through their sporting talent. ENDS