Mmegi

Economy drifts into choppy waters... again

Supporting growth: The non-mining sector’s growth in the second quarter was helped by stable electricity supply. As diamonds attempt a recovery, non-mining activities need supportive utilities to play their part in resuscitating the economy PIC: MBONGENI MGUNI
Supporting growth: The non-mining sector’s growth in the second quarter was helped by stable electricity supply. As diamonds attempt a recovery, non-mining activities need supportive utilities to play their part in resuscitating the economy PIC: MBONGENI MGUNI

The economy this year entered familiar choppy waters with the prolonged downturn in diamonds weighing down growth and threatening the deepest contraction since COVID-19.

The waters are familiar because ever since minerals began to dominate values produced in the country decades ago, the economy became joined at the hip with the cyclical fluctuations of minerals, particularly diamonds.

Prior to that, cycles in the economy were more closely linked to periods of drought and periods of healthy rains, as values in the country were generally sourced from agricultural activities.

Editor's Comment
Two-tier education system demands action

Whilst we join Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) and other stakeholders in commending the rise in top grades, a testament to the unwavering effort of many teachers and pupils, this progress is fundamentally shadowed by a failing that shames our society. The stark, persistent urban-rural divide is not just a statistic, but an active betrayal of thousands of young Batswana.The figures are a damning indictment. When pass rates in...

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