According to the Bank of Botswana's 2023 Annual Report, the information, communications and technology (ICT) sector employed 7,014 people. This is equal to less than 1% (0.9%) of Botswana's total labour force.
The figure represents a decrease from last year's figures of 7,508 people. However, ICT's contribution to the country's economic growth continues to increase albeit at a slower pace. The sector's output increased by 4.4% in the year to September 2023, from a growth of 5% in the corresponding period in the previous year.
In this year's budget speech, the Ministry of Communications Knowledge and Technology was allocated P1.7 billion (5.8%) of the development expenditure. The proposed budget will cover Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Projects, such as Online Services Implementation, GovernmentData Network Expansion, National ICT Backbone, International Connectivity, as well as Local Access Network, Aggregation of Citizen Identifiers, and Service Management Robotics and Analytics.
Further, the proposed budget will cater for Cyber security, Orphan Radioactive Storage Facility and Border Detection Systems projects and Research Fund, all of which will hopefully create more jobs in the sector.