According to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts, Botswana’s GDP is predicted to reach $17.00 billion by the end of 2021. According to our econometric models, Botswana’s GDP will trend around 18.50 USD billion in 2022 and 21.00 USD billion in 2023 in the long run.
Is Botswana a wealthy or impoverished country?
Botswana is nestled between South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in the heart of Southern Africa. When it gained independence in 1966, it was one of the world’s poorest countries, but it quickly became one of the world’s development success stories. It is an upper middle-income country with a transformation plan of becoming a high-income country by 2036, thanks to significant mineral (diamond) wealth, solid government, cautious economic management, and a comparatively tiny population of slightly more than two million people.
Botswana has a stable political environment, with multi-party democracy and general elections every five years. Since 1966, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has been in power. Botswana’s 11th general elections were held in October 2019, with His Excellency President Dr. Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi inheriting the office. In April 2021, the Honorable Peggy Serame was appointed Minister of Finance and Economic Development.
Botswana’s macroeconomic policy framework is based on good governance and sound macroeconomic policies. Botswana entered the COVID-19 crisis with more budgetary flexibility than its counterparts thanks to careful management of natural resources and a long record of very solid policies and policy frameworks. However, the economy’s reliance on a single commodity, diamonds, makes it vulnerable to external shocks, and the ongoing COVID-19 issue and structural rigidities have exacerbated pre-existing challenges associated with mineral-led growth. Unemployment is fundamentally high, averaging 19.8% over the last five years, and inequality remains among the greatest in the world. The epidemic is expected to halt progress in reducing poverty.
Budget pressures are expected to continue high through 2021, with overall fiscal deficits expected to be the norm in the medium term. Higher mineral receipts and revenue-enhancing initiatives, such as VAT rate modifications, are projected to mitigate the impact of decreased SACU flows; but, debt levels are expected to rise as the government pursues external loans to resuscitate the economy in the face of increased spending demands. The current account balance is expected to reduce as worldwide demand for diamonds improves, as well as the phase-out of one-time COVID-related spending and the execution of revenue-enhancing and expenditure-consolidation initiatives.
Botswana’s living standards have improved, and poverty has decreased dramatically. Between 200203 and 200910, the percentage of the population living on less than $1.90 per day fell steadily, from 29.8% to 18.2%, and then to 16.1% in 2015-16. This quick drop in poverty can be attributed to a combination of rising agricultural revenues, including subsidies, and changing demographics. Improvements in shared prosperity have accompanied progress in reducing poverty. Between 200910 and 201516, the growth rate of consumption per capita for the bottom 40% of the population was 0.42 percent per year, which was greater than the growth rate for the top 60%. Botswana’s performance, on the other hand, was barely in the center of the global shared-prosperity distribution.
Inequality has decreased as well, albeit it remains high. Inequality, as assessed by the Gini index, declined from 60.5 percent to 53.3 percent between 2010 and 2015. Regional convergence as a result of high growth in rural regions and demographic shifts is one of the primary reasons contributing to Botswana’s falling income disparity. Botswana, on the other hand, continues to be one of the world’s most unequal countries.
According to the latest Botswana Multi-Topic Survey: Labour Force Module Report, the unemployment rate has risen 3.1 percentage points to 20.7 percent, with youth unemployment providing a serious concern. Improving the quality of infrastructure (water and electricity), vital basic services (education, health, and social safety nets), and expediting business climate changes and effective entrepreneurial assistance will be required to meet these difficulties.
What accounts for Botswana’s low GDP?
Botswana’s economy has grown at a rate of roughly 5% per year over the last decade, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. During the first 30 years of the country’s independence, private sector employment grew at a rate of roughly 10% per year. Botswana’s economy had considerable growth after a period of stagnation around the turn of the century, with GDP exceeding 6-7 percent targets. The African Development Bank has praised Botswana for enduring one of the world’s longest economic booms. Since the late 1960s, the country’s economy has grown at a rate comparable to that of some of Asia’s greatest economies. The government has continuously run budget surpluses and maintains substantial foreign-exchange reserves.
In comparison to some of its neighbors, Botswana’s impressive economic record is based on diamond mining, careful fiscal measures, and a cautious foreign policy. Diamond mining is the mainstay of Botswana’s economy. Diamond mining provides 50% of the government’s revenue, primarily through the Debswana Diamond Company, a 50:50 joint venture with De Beers. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index ranks it as the least corrupt country in Africa. It boasts Africa’s fourth highest gross national income per capita in terms of purchasing power and is above the global average.
In Botswana, trade unions represent a small percentage of the workforce. They are mostly loosely organized “in-house” unions, while the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) is cementing its position as the country’s sole national trade union center.
Although Botswana’s economy is regarded as a model for the area, the country’s significant reliance on mining, as well as its high rate of HIV/AIDS infection (one in every three individuals is seropositive) and unemployment, may jeopardize its future prosperity.
What is Botswana’s position in Africa?
Botswana is placed 3rd out of 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a score that is higher than the regional and global averages.
Which African country is the wealthiest?
Egypt is the richest country in Africa in terms of total GDP (PPP INT$) for 2021. Egypt is Africa’s third-most populous country, with 104 million inhabitants. Egypt’s economy is a diverse one, with tourism, agriculture, and fossil fuels dominating, as well as a burgeoning information and communications technology industry.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, with 211 million people contributing to its GDPnearly double the population of Egypt. Nigeria is a diverse economy with a lower-middle-income concentrate on petroleum and (to a lesser extent) agriculture. It’s also a developing market with burgeoning financial, service, communications, and technology industries.
Is Botswana wealthier than South Africa?
South Africa ranked 35th in the world with a GDP of $368.3 billion dollars, whereas Botswana ranked 117th with $18.6 billion dollars. South Africa and Botswana were rated 151st and 96th, respectively, in terms of GDP 5-year average growth and GDP per capita.
Is Botswana a superior country to South Africa?
Botswana is well-known for its beautiful game reserves and natural beauties.
Botswana, as opposed to South Africa, is a more pure wildlife location. Its biggest safari reserves, including as the Okavango and Chobe, are less accessible than their South African equivalents, have a significantly more natural character, and cater to high-cost, low-impact fly-in tourism. Botswana consequently provides a more obvious wilderness experience than South Africa, but it is not as well suited to budget-conscious travelers or DIY self-drivers as Kruger or Pilanesberg.
There is nothing in Botswana that compares to historic South African capitals like Cape Town or Stellenbosch, or the steep heights of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg, and it is a landlocked country with no coastline at all, compared to 2,500km in South Africa. In addition, South Africa is the only African country with multiple malaria-free safari destinations.
Is South Africa a developing nation?
With a Gini score of 63 in 2014/15, South Africa is one of the world’s most unequal countries. Inequality is widespread, has persisted, and has risen since 1994. High levels of income polarization are reflected in very high proportions of chronic poverty, a small middle class, and a few high-income individuals.
Botswana, how corrupt is it?
Many prominent, well-known international organizations have recognized Botswana as one of the least corrupt countries in Africa. Corruption, on the other hand, has not been abolished and can still be found in a wide range of government sectors and in various forms. Botswana has enacted a slew of laws and regulations to combat corruption, with the goal of halting its spread.
Botswana received a corruption perceptions index score of 55 in the 2021 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, with 100 being the cleanest and 0 being the most corrupt. Botswana was placed 45th out of 180 countries based on public sector corruption perceptions, from least to most corrupt. After Seychelles, which had a score of 70, and Cabo Verde, which received a score of 58, Botswana has the third highest score in Africa.
Botswana was ranked moderate by another international group, the Business Anti-Corruption Portal, in terms of the level of corruption in the country. Multiple government sectors, including judicial services, police, legislation, public services, tax administration, and public procurement, all face varied levels of corruption, according to the Business Anti-Corruption Portal.
Corruption in Botswana is one of the most difficult elements when it comes to doing business in the country, according to the Global Competitiveness Report done in 2011 and 2012.