Copyright ©Afrobarometer 2018 1 Dispatch No. 184 | 11 January 2018 Unemployment mars favourable assessment of Batswana government performance Afrobarometer Dispatch No. 184 | Mogopodi Lekorwe, Kabelo Moseki, and Mokaloba Mokaloba Summary In his final State of the Nation Address, delivered in November 2017, President Ian Khama offered a positive economic outlook for Botswana, citing a recovery to 4.3% growth in 2016 and projected growth of 4.7% and 5.3% in 2017-2018 (Khama, 2017). But while reporting some gains in employment and training programs, he was less bullish about job creation than he had been a year earlier, when he promised “job creation … increasingly linked to private sector growth, with government playing an enabling role” (Khama, 2016). Even with a strong economy, unemployment is certain to remain a challenge for Botswana after Khama steps down in 2018. Statistics Botswana (2017) announced in 2017 that unemployment had dropped from 19.9% in 2011 to 17.6% in 2016 – an estimate that many commentators consider too low following job losses in the mining sector and the freezing of posts in government (Masokola, 2017). Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who will succeed Khama as president, has already confronted the challenge as head of the government’s job creation agenda (Balise, 2015). According to the latest Afrobarometer survey in Botswana, ordinary citizens are generally positive in their assessments of the government’s performance on key economic issues – with the clear exception of job creation, which they view as the most important problem facing the country. Afrobarometer survey Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues in African countries. Six rounds of surveys were conducted in up to 37 countries between 1999 and 2016, and Round 7 surveys are currently underway. Afrobarometer conducts face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples. The Afrobarometer team in Botswana, led by Star Awards (Pty) Ltd, interviewed 1,200 adult Batswana in July 2017. A sample of this size yields country-level results with a margin of error of +/-3% at a 95% confidence level. Previous surveys were conducted in Botswana in 1999, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2014. Key findings ▪ Unemployment tops citizens’ list of the most important problems that the government should address, cited by almost three-fourths (73%) of all respondents as one of their three priorities. Other pressing concerns include poverty/destitution (24%), education (21%), health (19%), and food shortage (14%).