Blog cafe Why Botswana?

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How did the per capita GDP of the landlocked, resource-rich, sub-Saharan African country of Botswana grow by an average annual 7.2% between 1966-2006 (which is even higher than China’s 6.9%)? And why did other, apparently-similar countries in sub-Saharan Africa (eg. Congo) fail? According to Mr Caesar Lekoa, the Ambassador of Botswana to the US in a CATO Institute podcast , (pointer from Bayesian Heresy ) the societal values of Botswana have been the foundations for the success of a country which, after Independence, had only 12 kms of paved roads and 22 university graduates. These values are (1) tolerance towards dissenting opinions (2) pragmatism in decision-making and (3) an innate sense of accountability by tribal leaders. The latter is in sharp contrast with Botswana’s neighbouring countries: the president of Botswana does not live in a mansion and does not fly in helicopters and he has even been seen doing his own shopping ! These values, according to Mr Lekoa, are the reasons why Botswana chose a pluralistic democracy, chose to steer away from socialism and its leaders chose not to plunder the country’s resources in diamond. And these values predate the British colonization:

It seems that when the odds are stacked against oneself, a lot of conditions are need to be able to steer away from a poverty-trap: good initial institutions which go back well in time, a sufficient amount of resources and good leadership. Of course, if Economics could be done in a laboratory, we could alter each of these conditions to see which ones really matter. Perhaps Botswana would have grown even if it were not diamond-rich, or even if it didn’t have a democracy (like Singapore did). But this, obviously, we will never really know.