Manzini – Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo has challenged Limkokwing University of Creative Technology graduates to become job creators rather than wait for employment, as youth unemployment remains a pressing challenge in Eswatini.
Addressing the university’s Class of 2026 graduation ceremony, Nxumalo said graduates needed to turn their qualifications into businesses, innovations and practical solutions that could create opportunities for themselves and others.
He said every graduate who established a business, introduced new ideas into an existing company or developed solutions for the public sector could contribute to economic growth and improve livelihoods.
“To the class of 2026, therefore, we offer both congratulations and a charge: do not merely seek jobs, create them. Do not wait for an opportunity, design it,” he said.
Nxumalo said institutions such as Limkokwing played an important role in equipping young emaSwati with relevant, adaptable and marketable skills at a time when the country needed new ways to expand employment opportunities.
He noted that when a young designer secured a contract, a family benefited, while technology graduates who developed local solutions could help address community challenges.
He also pointed to entrepreneurship as a way of creating employment, saying even a small business that employed a handful of people could contribute to the national economy.
The minister said the country’s National Development Plan and broader national transformation agenda depended on a skilled, creative and entrepreneurial population.
He encouraged the graduates to carry integrity, creativity and compassion into their careers, using their knowledge to create value and contribute to the wellbeing of their communities.
“Your degree is not an end point. It is a commission. The nation is counting on you to turn knowledge into value and value into shared prosperity,” Nxumalo said.
He congratulated the graduates, their parents and educators, while acknowledging the university’s contribution to developing the country’s human capital.
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