Botswana is a liberal capitalist state in Southern Africa, bordered by South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
History
Independence
Following Indepedence, Botswana was in dire straits. The country was considered the third poorest in the world with a GDP per capita of $75 a year. There were only 12 kilometres of paved road. In addition, great natural resouces wealth (in the form of diamonds) had just been discovered
When the British left, there were 12 kilometers of paved road, 22 Batswana who had graduated from University and 100 from secondary school.2Botswana is a predominantly tropical, landlocked country (which many economists see as a disadvantage, e.g., Bloom and Sachs, 1998). It is true that diamonds have been important for growth in Botswana, and currently account for around 40 percent of the country's output. Yet, in many other countries, natural resource abundance appears to be a curse rather than a blessing (e.g., Sachs and Warner, 1995). So how did Botswana do it?