Public Private Partnerships of Botswana

The rich availability of natural resources and a stable history of uninterrupted multi-party democracy, as well as the relative transparency of government finances, have long facilitated private investment in Botswana. Consequently, Botswana is host to one of the most successful and long-running public-private partnerships in the world: the Debswana Mining Company, which it owns with DeBeers. In recent years, the government has sought increased privatisation alongside a diversification of the economy from its dependence on the diamond industry. Public-private partnerships have emerged as a central vein of the government’s privatisation policy, in the interests of infrastructure and service provision, as stated in the National Development Plan 9 (2000). The Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatization Agency (PEEPA), founded 2001, leads and advises on the privatisation ‘master plan’ launched across Botswana in 2005.

As part of its economic diversification policy, Botswana has chiefly focused on promoting industrialisation. Tourism has also emerged as a sector for growth, with the development of safari-style operations in large wilderness areas. Agriculture is another area for private-sector development, formerly a major contributor at 42.7 per cent of GDP, but presently only accounting for three per cent.

Several key institutions have been established to drive economic diversification in the last few decades: the Botswana Development Corporation, the Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority and, recently, the International Financial Services Centre.
An economic diversification master plan, the Economic Diversification Drive initiative, was formed in consultation between the government, the private sector and relevant stakeholders.

Botswana is one of a number of African states to be trained in PPPs by the Southern African Development Community Banking Association’s PPP Capacity Building Programme