Botswana drops a notch in Global Digital Competitiveness
Lewanika Timothy | Monday November 17, 2025 06:00
The survey was conducted by Swiss-based Institute for Management Development (IMD), whose studies and rankings have become increasingly important globally since the collapse of the Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum.
The ranking of 61 in the 2025 report, comes after the country achieved position 63 in 2021, then improved to 60 between 2023 and 2024.
The report evaluates how effectively countries develop, adopt, and harness digital innovation across three critical factors: Knowledge, Technology, and Future Readiness.
According to the Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC), which is the IMD’s partner institution for Botswana, the country’s competitiveness score actually rose modestly from 46.01 to 48.30 out of 100 in 2025, but this was not enough to prevent a drop in rank as other economies accelerated more rapidly in innovation and technology adoption.
Analysts said the lower ranking this year reflects pressing challenges in low technology adoption coupled with a poor education system, all of which have slowed the country in a global race to becoming a knowledge-based economy.
“The Knowledge factor, which evaluates a country’s ability to generate, absorb, and transfer innovation, recorded a notable decline from being ranked 49th in 2024 to 61st in 2025,” the BNPC researchers stated. “This drop was largely driven by weaker performances in Scientific Concentration and Training & Education, where Botswana ranked 66th and 58th, respectively, in 2025, down sharply from 31st and 37th, respectively, the previous year. “This underscores the urgent need to invest more deeply in research, higher education, and technology-driven innovation to build a stronger domestic knowledge base.”
The report highlighted deep structural weaknesses in Botswana’s technology landscape, pointing to limited access to funding for tech innovation, low prevalence of digital skills within the education system, and slow adoption of technology across government services. These gaps have constrained the country’s ability to foster a vibrant digital ecosystem, the report has shown.
According to the BNPC, the Talent subfactor, which measures the quality, mobility, and skills of a country’s workforce, also declined from 31st in 2024 to 42nd in 2025.
“Yet within this area, Botswana also demonstrated a strength, with its ranking for attracting highly skilled foreign personnel improving from 17th to 11th. “This growing inflow of technical expertise, if harnessed effectively, could help stimulate innovation and enhance knowledge transfer across sectors,” the researchers said.
Related to this, gains were recorded in immigration policy, where Botswana’s ranking improved from 28th in 2024 to 16th in 2025, signalling a more open and adaptive policy stance towards attracting international digital professionals and investors.
Botswana also performed well in telecommunications investment, ranking 22nd, positioning itself amongst Africa’s top performers in this area.
“This strength is reinforced by the continued expansion of broadband connectivity through government programmes such as the Smart Bots initiative, which is steadily improving digital access, innovation, and inclusion across the country,” BNPC researchers said. “The recent rollout of Starlink operations in Botswana further enhances connectivity, particularly in remote and underserved areas, expanding opportunities for digital participation and inclusion.”
Under the Technology factor, which measures the environment that supports digital development, Botswana showed a modest improvement, moving from 57th place in 2024 to 55th in 2025.
IMD researchers noted that mid-income economies like Botswana continue to battle with prices of data which in turn limit mass tech adoption alongside border restrictions on the monetisation and licensing of technologies across its borders.
“These barriers include cross-border licensing requirements, data localisation rules, and platform access restrictions. Their effects are particularly important in mid-income economies with limited domestic alternatives,” researchers noted.