Beware of Big Brother�s flue

South Africa’s dominance, at once a blessing and a curse, has stunted local manufacturing with cheaper imports, while simultaneously shoring up local annual budgets through SACU revenues. To some extent, Botswana has benefited by having access to the world-class aviation and financial services located in South Africa, which tourists and investors have leveraged to access our smaller economy.

On the ground, however, Botswana has literally exported hundreds of thousands of jobs to South Africa via an import bill heavily in favour of the regional powerhouse, while the dominance of that country’s firms in local financial services, retail and similar sectors has exposed the local economy to the vicissitudes of the South Africa economy.