Botswana

Territory in south central Africa, ruled since 1966 by the Republic of Botswana

Other Places: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana (Tswana: Lefatshe la Botswana), is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. Since then, it has maintained a strong tradition of stable representative democracy, with a consistent record of uninterrupted democratic elections and the best perceived corruption ranking in Africa since at least 1998.

Measures of Freedom

Botswana | Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016
2016: Status: Free, Aggregate Score: 73, Political Rights: 3, Civil Liberties: 2

While democratic traditions are strong in Botswana, critics of President Seretse Khama Ian Khama have expressed concerns about creeping authoritarianism, particularly in light of crackdowns on the media and questionable actions by Khama regarding the judiciary. Botswana saw economic difficulties in 2015, attributed to a decline in diamond exports as well as significant electricity and water shortages. Following two quarters of economic contraction, the country had entered a recession by the year's end.

Human Freedom Index [PDF], The Human Freedom Index 2016
2014: 6.70, Rank: 93, Personal Freedom: 6.14, Economic Freedom: 7.27, Democracy Index: 7.48

Level of Economic Freedom, Economic Freedom of the World
2014: 7.27, Rank: 59

Articles

Jim Rogers -- your global investment strategy, by Jim Rogers, Lindsay Williams, 19 Oct 2004
Transcript of radio interview broadcast on "Classic Business Day" from Johannesburg, South Africa

I own every share I have ever bought in Botswana. I first invested there in 1991, I bought more shares over the years, reinvested all of my income there. Granted, the stories are that Botswana has a horrible AIDS... HIV problem, I don't know. One thing I know about Africa is that nobody really knows all these statistics which people cite... Botswana has some great things going for it. There is nothing quite like being the world’s largest diamond producer, or one of them - to give people a good outlook. And it has been, and appears to be fairly stable.