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Botswana

Republic of Botswana

English, Setswana Botswana Pula (BWP) Mixed: Roman-Dutch law, customary law
AU, SADC, SACU, AfCFTA, Commonwealth, WTO

Botswana is one of Africa's great economic success stories, transforming from one of the world's poorest countries at independence (1966) to an upper-middle-income economy. The country is the world's second-largest diamond producer by value through its partnership with De Beers in the Debswana joint venture.

Botswana is consistently ranked among Africa's best-governed countries with the lowest corruption levels on the continent (CPI rank 35), stable democracy, and investment-grade credit rating (A- S&P, A2 Moody's). The International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gaborone offers a 15% corporate tax rate for qualifying entities.

Challenges include economic concentration in diamonds (diversification is a priority), high unemployment (26%), HIV/AIDS prevalence, and a small domestic market (2.7 million people). The country is investing in tourism (Okavango Delta, Chobe), beef exports, and financial services.

Snapshot

Population~2.6 MWorld Bank, 2025
GDP (current USD)$19.9 BWorld Bank, 2025
GDP per Capita$7,778World Bank, 2025
GDP Growth-0.73%World Bank, 2025
Inflation (y/y)~2.66%World Bank, 2025
Bank rate (Bank of Botswana)5.75%Central Bank
Unemployment24.48%World Bank, ILO modelled estimate, 2025
Internet Use~57.46%World Bank, 2024
Electrification~72.00%World Bank WDI
CPI Score (Rank)60.0/100 (#35)Transparency Intl
HDI (Rank)0.693 (#118)UNDP HDR
Credit RatingA- (S&P) / A2 (Moody's)S&P / Moody's / Fitch
MarketBotswana Stock Exchange (BSE)

World Bank Indicators Compare with another country

GDP (current USD)$19.9 BWorld Bank, 2025
GDP growth (annual)-0.73%World Bank, 2025
GDP per capita (USD)$7,778World Bank, 2025
Population, total2.6 MWorld Bank, 2025
FDI net inflows (USD)$467.3 MWorld Bank, 2024
Inflation (consumer prices)2.66%World Bank, 2025
Unemployment (% labour force)24.48%World Bank, 2025
Internet use (% of people)57.46%World Bank, 2024
Trade (% of GDP)69.54%World Bank, 2025

Climate Readiness Full ranking

71out of 100
Advanced readiness
Climate adaptation readiness for Botswana, from 5 of 5 measured indicators.
Energy access7272.0% · 30% weight
Governance readiness6060 / 100 CPI · 20% weight
Human readiness690.693 HDI · 20% weight
Economic readiness79$7,778, 2025 · 15% weight
Digital readiness7575.0% · 15% weight
This scores climate adaptation readiness (adaptive capacity), following the readiness dimension of the ND-GAIN framework. It is built only from measured values already held on this profile and normalised 0-100. It does not measure emissions or physical climate vulnerability: the platform does not yet hold emissions, hazard-exposure or natural-capital series. Energy access is the single most climate-specific indicator held; the other four are governance, economic, human-development and digital readiness proxies. The economic sub-score is relative to the African countries the platform covers.
How this is computed

Adaptive capacity to absorb climate finance and adapt, following the readiness dimension of the ND-GAIN framework. Built only from measured values already held on each country profile. It is not a measure of emissions or physical climate vulnerability, which the platform does not yet hold.

  • Energy access (30%) — World Bank, access to electricity (% of population). The single most climate and energy specific signal held: SDG 7 and the clean-energy transition.
  • Governance readiness (20%) — Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index (0-100). ND-GAIN governance readiness: the capacity to govern and deploy climate finance. Higher is cleaner.
  • Human readiness (20%) — UNDP, Human Development Index (0-1). ND-GAIN social readiness: the adaptive capacity of the population.
  • Economic readiness (15%) — World Bank, GDP per capita (current US$), latest measured year. ND-GAIN economic readiness: the capacity to finance adaptation. Scored relative to the covered set.
  • Digital readiness (15%) — World Bank, individuals using the Internet (% of population). Information systems for early warning and adaptation.

A country is scored only when at least 4 of the five indicators are held. Sub-scores are weighted and renormalised over the indicators that are present; nothing is estimated for one that is absent.

Country Facts

CapitalGaborone
RegionSouthern Africa
CurrencyBotswana Pula (BWP)
FX RegimeCrawling band peg (basket: ZAR + SDR)
Stock ExchangeBotswana Stock Exchange (BSE)
Investment Promotion AgencyBotswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC)
Legal SystemMixed: Roman-Dutch law, customary law
Time ZoneAfrica/Gaborone

Focus Sectors

Diamonds (world's 2nd largest producer by value)
Beef
Tourism
Mining (copper
nickel
soda ash)
Financial Services
Manufacturing
Real Estate
Telecoms
Energy
Technology

Regulations & Taxes

Corporate Income Tax22% standard (15% IFSC approved)
VAT / Sales Tax14% standard

Recent Deals (1)

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Pre-Seed
$7M