New country analysis shines a spotlight on Botswana’s economic transformation
Correspondent | Monday July 17, 2023 06:00
A new focus report, produced by Oxford Business Group (OBG) in partnership with the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) and Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA) Botswana, charts the country’s impressive growth story since independence and maps out its plans to become a high-income, export-led country within the next 15 years.
The study provides in-depth analysis of Botswana’s ongoing economic development and journey from poverty to upper-middle-income nation in an easy-to-navigate and accessible format, supported by key data and infographics.
Following the release of the report, OBG will also release a complementary illustrative video exploring the country’s transformation agenda and bid to create a more diversified economy, generating sustainable, annual GDP growth of at least six percent.
The report shines a spotlight on national efforts under way to attract investment for targeted sectors and broaden the economic base by boosting non-mining activity, in line with the country’s Vision 2036 roadmap.
Subscribers will find detailed analysis of the sectors identified as ripe for growth and offering significant potential for public-private partnerships, which include logistics, ICT, agriculture, education, health, energy, manufacturing, tourism and financial services. Botswana’s bid to carve a niche as a regional transport hub is another focus. In this section, the report considers the key part that Kazungula Bridge is expected to play in helping the country to achieve this goal, following its opening last year, by providing a direct link between Botswana and Zambia, and strategic regional routeway to North Africa.
Subscribers will also find coverage of Botswana’s plans to boost exports through increased production and tap into new opportunities emerging from the African Continental Free Trade Area and other key trade agreements. The focus report features an interview with Keletsositse Olebile, CEO, BITC, in which he shares his views on a range of topical issues, including the potential for Botswana to capitalise on regional synergies. “Botswana enjoys an advantageous geostrategic position in the centre of the Southern African Development Community, with connections to South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi and other countries in the region,” he noted. “This suggests that there may be potential to transform Botswana into a regional land-air, multi-modal centre, with opportunities in inland transport and logistics.”
In a separate interview, Lonely Mogara, CEO of SEZA (Botswana), highlights the benefits that special economic zones (SEZs) offer investors, their role in enhancing export diversification and the need for national facilities to be competitive.
“Botswana’s SEZs present an investor-friendly business environment that supports timely company registration, the issuance of business and residence permits and the opening of company and utilities accounts, among other benefits,” he said.
“To attract additional investment, our SEZs will need to offer prospective investors attractive incentives similar to those offered at other SEZs around the world.”
Karine Loehman, OBG’s Managing Director for Africa, said that as a politically stable democracy, benefiting from several additional advantages that ranged from an abundance of natural resources to a young, tech-savvy workforce and increasingly business-friendly environment, Botswana had much to offer investors. “Botswana is widely regarded as one of the continent’s success stories, having routed income from mineral resources into public infrastructure over the years, which is now providing firm foundations for the next phase of the country’s economic development,” she said.
“While post-pandemic challenges remain, an improved outlook for minerals and increased demand for diamonds from key importers is expected to support heightened activity in 2022, which will be key in strengthening efforts to attract investment for a broad range of economic sectors.”
The focus report on Botswana and accompanying video form part of a series of tailored studies that OBG is currently producing with its partners, alongside other highly relevant, go-to research tools, including ESG and Future Readiness reports, country-specific Growth and Recovery Outlook articles and interviews.