On the eve of Independence Day, Statistics Botswana released numbers showing that the economy shrank by a record 24% in the second quarter, with nearly all sectors showing considerable contraction. Mining, the country’s economic mainstay, dropped 60.2% in terms of real value added while the non-mining sector, which has increasingly supported the economy, fell 20.7%. None of this was unexpected. Economists and other analysts have long forecast a deep contraction due to the impact of COVID-19 which closed borders, reduced demand and prices for the country’s key commodities and inhibited productive activity through movement restrictions. In fact, government expects the economy to contract by 8.9% this year, the deepest recession in the country’s history since Independence, worse, even, than the 2009 global financial crisis-induced collapse. Behind these numbers are real human beings facing real challenges to simply put food on the table. Behind the numbers are rising national tensions over economic opportunities, increasing frustrations with the political leadership and growing disillusionment with long held aspirations.
As in many other countries, the pandemic has brought two crises to Botswana; health and the economy. At its onset with the first case on March 31, authorities targeted the health crisis through interventions such as border closures and the lockdown.
