For my over-arching impression, I will stick with my 5 Cs as reported by the media here. They were not meant to usurp the President’s 5 Ds, but they were inspired by them. I see them as constructive comment rather than anything critical. It is more that Botswana could and should be better. I think it will get there and it does not need fundamental change to do so. Rather it needs a change of approach and direction and perhaps a cultural shift. Culture is not god given but man-made and should evolve and adapt to remain relevant. The culture of state provision and the expectancy of it needs to change. Success needs to be rewarded and failure punished.
You can learn a lot from a country by its driving, which is generally pretty good in Botswana. But the disregard for the traffic laws concerns me and I have a particular issue with those who drive blatantly through red lights. I think people do this because there is no consequence and no punishment (traffic cameras would soon put a stop to that and generate a lot of revenue). But I have a sense that people don’t care about the rules and that the lights are red – they are simply not going to stop. This is also a culture that needs to change before it becomes invasive and spreads. My focus certainly over the last year has been on trying to improve the business environment and increase trade between our two countries. The government, with its Economic Stimulus Package and Reform of the Ease of Doing Business, has made a start, but more needs to be done. For example, Botswana needs to adapt to the challenges of the 21st century global economy and open itself up more to Foreign Direct Investment. This will help grow the economy and increase employment opportunities. In my opinion, there are some restrictive, protectionist and outdated working practices that are stifling investment and innovation. Botswana urgently needs civil service and union reform, much along the lines of those introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s which transformed the UK. Botswana needs to tackle the growing corruption, which one senior government official told me was the greatest threat to Botswana’s continued development. And the quickest way to tackle corruption is through transparency. If a process is transparent, it is hard for corruption to take hold. Botswana can make a start on this by signing up to Global Principles such as the Open Government Partnership.
