

Botswana: An African Model for Progress and Prosperity (2012) - ca98am79
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nake-m-kamrany/botswana-economic-growth_b_2069226.html

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discardorama
"According to the CIA World Factbook, diamond activities contribute to 38
percent of national GDP, generate nearly 80 percent of export income and 50
percent of government revenue"

Well then. It's easy to replicate their "model"; all you need is a ginormous
diamond mine.

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dmlorenzetti
I think what distinguishes Botswana is how much of the diamond revenue the
government turns into benefits for its citizens. Unlike many other countries,
and no matter what other woes it might have, the place is not run as a
kleptocracy.

I was a Peace Corps volunteer there in the late 1980s, and saw a lot of
schools and health clinics built by the government, roads extended, water
pumps installed, and so on. They also had adult education centers set up in
many villages.

I went to teach there after a planned group of volunteers for Zaire fell
through (for political reasons). The government of Botswana found out and told
Peace Corps to send all the math/science teachers they could. I think that
speaks to the mindset of the governance there.

Another aspect of the lack of corruption was the day-to-day interactions with
authorities. In Zimbabwe or Kenya, if your bus got pulled over by the police
it was always for a bribe. In Botswana, a group of soldiers would empty out
the bus of passengers, inspect everything (no doubt looking for bombs and
other arms related to the resistance to apartheid in neighboring South
Africa), and then let you get back on the bus. Not a jot of personal property
would be touched, nor money change hands, as far as I ever saw.

Finally, the Batswana culture always seemed to me to be incredibly peaceful,
for want of a better word. My sense (not an anthropologist by any means) is
that Botswana has a culture very much like an extended farm village. Most
people live off the land, and the population is very sparse. Unless you're in
a pretty large city (and there are maybe two or three), you simply don't walk
past somebody without saying hello (and following a prescribed ritual for
doing so). Even in the capital, you tend to acknowledge people as you pass
them. There were of course problems, but in general I never feared to walk
around anywhere, or to talk with anybody.

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mark_l_watson
A little off topic but but I took an online Globalization class last year from
Wharton and the professor talked a lot how given a few decades to settle
political problems, Africa would be the growth center of the world both
economically and by population.

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taejo
The article doesn't mention the fact that 78% of people in Botswana are
ethnically Tswana and speak Tswana, which is a level of homogeneity that is
almost unheard of in Sub-Saharan Africa. On the other hand, nearby Lesotho and
Swaziland are even less diverse, and are doing far worse, so it's obviously
not the only factor.

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sampo
Progress, prosperity and a heavy metal music subculture.

[http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/12/27/the-heavy-metal-
sub...](http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/12/27/the-heavy-metal-subculture-
of-botswana-africa/)

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Havoc
Namibia is also worth a mention. Both countries are kinda quietly doing their
own thing & doing a decent job of it too. Still third world country, so
realistically it is less than perfect & some roadbumps are to be expected but
respectable anyway.

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purephase
Built upon the backs of thousands of displaced native peoples (by the
government) so that De Beers can move in and strangle the diamond market to
drive up prices.

Not sure if this is a model that others should laud, really.

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blake_himself
I've heard that DeBeers kind of runs the place. I don't remember where I heard
that though.

