27 Mar 2026

 Botswana is looking to boost its economy by becoming a regional transport and logistics hub, leveraging its strategic location to connect with over 200 million people in the region.

President Advocate Duma Boko said this during the inaugural presidential business roundtable on March 27.

He emphasised the need for the country to improve its infrastructure and efficiency to attract foreign investment and diversify its economy beyond diamonds, with a focus on digitalisation and private-sector-led growth.

“If you take the strategic positionality of Botswana as a land-locked country, that connects us to over 200 million people, you realise that we are strategically located. This is a huge advantage for us," he said during a forum themed: Towards Economic Transformation, A Private Sector-led Growth Agenda for Botswana.

He noted that efficiency-seeking foreign direct investment was driven by conditions created by the country.

“We must openly acknowledge that one of the failures, perhaps even the folly of government, is this very issue of over-bureaucratisation. Government operates under a frozen crust,” he said.

Also, President Boko said the government was committed to creating an economy that was diversified beyond diamonds, with targeted growth in priority sectors such as tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, financial services and digitalisation.

He said digitalisation was the pivot point of the economy, where efficiencies would be generated.

“Also, it is where cost savings will come and also help to overcome the scourge of corruption. We want e-procurement. We want people to be able to access government services very easily, very quickly, and affordably,” adding that such would obviate the need to crowd for services.  

He also added that the informal sector must be digitalised as well to become part of the mainstream economy, adding that the government was committed to an export-led economy where the private sector was the main engine of growth.

The country, he said, envisaged an economy where value-added industries dominate, enterprises start, grow, thrive, and compete locally, regionally, continentally, and globally, and innovation and entrepreneurship are nurtured.

President Boko said the business roundtable meeting came at a time of significant economic pressure and transition, noting that the economy remained highly dependent on diamonds, which accounted for a substantial share of exports and government revenue.

However, he noted that the sector was under pressure from weaker global demand and increased competition, especially from synthetic diamonds, which weakened economic performance.

“Economic growth has been very slow, with projections indicating that the economy contracted slightly by around 0.4 per cent in 2025, largely due to the downturn in the diamond sector.”

This, he said, reinforced a clear message that the current growth model was no longer relevant and effective for Botswana, adding that the next phase of Botswana’s growth must, therefore, be fundamentally different and private sector–led.

He said the Botswana Economic Transformation Programme and the National Development Plan 12 must now move decisively from a government-driven model to an economy-led by a dynamic and competitive private sector, to realise the national vision. ENDS