Spearheading Botswana’s economic growth
Friday, February 17, 2023 | 330 Views |
At the helm: Finance Minister, Peggy Serame, during last week’s budget speech presentation PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG
Despite this, the Botswana economy has shown strong resilience and grew by 11.8% in 2021, the fastest growth rate in sub-Saharan Africa. The growth is expected to continue in 2022, with the economy estimated to grow by 6.7 percent once Statistics Botswana has validated it on their end.
In 2023 and 2024, growth is projected atfour percent and 5.1 percent respectively, due to better-than-expected performance of the mining and non-mining sectors. However, there are macro-fiscal risks such as slowing growth and a possible recession in advanced countries, which may affect diamond sales, rising COVID-19 infections in China, and global inflation risks.
That sounds like good news. But the report also warns that this may simply be because our digital economy is still young, not because we are safe. As more people shop, bank and pay online, criminals will follow.We Batswana do not need a report to tell us that danger is real. Many of us have heard of or fallen victim to KYC scams. A caller impersonates your bank or mobile money provider. They say they need to “verify” your account. They ask...