Botswana's lessons for Africa

Being rich in diamonds doesn't determine a country's future; good governance is vital.

- By Marvellous Ngundu

A woman sorts raw diamonds at the Diamond Trading Company, a diamond-sorting and valuing facility in Gaborone, Botswana. Diamond mining is the backbone of the country's economy.

(Photo: Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)

The "resource curse" or "paradox of plenty" affects many resource-rich African countries.

In many cases, natural resources fuel corruption, conflicts, economic stagnation and institutional weakness. Botswana stands out as a remarkable counterexample.

At independence in 1966, Botswana was one of the world's poorest countries, and it had limited infrastructure, a weak health system and a poorly educated population. Nevertheless, the country harnessed its diamond wealth to achieve upper-middle-income status.

This success stemmed from deliberate policy decisions grounded in institutional reforms, transparent resource management and long-term planning. Botswana's experience shows that natural resources can drive broad-based economic development, but this is only possible with effective governance.

When diamonds were discovered in the late 1960s, Botswana faced risks similar to those that plague other African resource-rich countries: capture by political elites, misallocation of revenues and overdependence on volatile global markets. Instead of succumbing, Botswana established a governance framework that ensured diamond wealth would serve national priorities.

The country has a solid history of fiscal stewardship designed with transparency at its core. Diamond revenues were channelled into sustainable development-oriented public investment through the “sustainable budgeting principle”, limiting off-book budget spending.