Botswana’s economic transformation: A lesson to Nepal

The economic transformation of Botswana from scratch to a successful developing country (upper-middle-income economy) is remarkable. When Botswana gained independence in 1966, it remained economically and politically backward. Only a handful of people had acquired university education and very few were literate. Cattle rearing and animal husbandry were only assets of the country’s economy , but nearly one-third of its cattle were destroyed by the drought of the 1960s. This impaired country’s economy to misery. Most of its youth had to go to South Africa for wage work. And, most importantly, it is a landlocked country of Africa having issues of cross-border transportation and access to the sea.

There were other incidents if we further explore to identify how situations had hindered the fortune of Botswana from progressing. Poor quality of soils, very low or no investment in agriculture and industry, lack of skilled human resources, frequently recurring drought, and resistance in adopting new technology by traditional farmers were some reasons we can cite. Therefore, Botswana’s economic transformation was due to the amalgamation of political and economic success via visionary and untamed policies throughout its democratic history wherein democratic practices had never undergone into crisis.