One year of Ndabanomics :: Mmegi Online

Long heralded as the country’s economic cavalry, Ndaba Gaolathe has for years been widely tipped as the man destined to steer Botswana’s finance ministry. One year into his tenure at the helm, TIMOTHY LEWANIKA takes stock of Gaolathe’s first year in office, examining how the nation’s long-held expectations measure up against the realities of steering the economy

For years, the hard task of creating meaningful jobs and diversifying the economy was repeatedly kicked down the road by successive fiscal planners. That deferred reckoning has now caught up with the country, leaving the Minister of Finance with little choice but to confront the challenge head-on.

“The new Botswana” as Gaolathe often says, is an epoch of rebuilding the ruins of an economy that has lost its lustre. The term laden in many of Gaolathe’s speeches as a Member of Parliament reveals that he has always been a firm believer in building a diversified economy through expanding value chains while protecting the integrity of the economy through strong independent institutions.

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