[AFRICA 7] Botswana, Africa's model democracy

BOTSWANA

AFRICA'S MODEL DEMOCRACY

At the recent job interview, I was asked when was the time I was able to upgrade my career during my stay in Africa for 7 years. Without any hesitation, my answer was when I was in Botswana.

I had an opportunity to work in Botswana after 6 years of working in Lesotho. While I was in Botswana, I worked under the Botswana government as a civil servant which gave me valuable experience and knowledge concerning international development practice. Botswana is known as one of Africa's most stable and peaceful countries. It was one of the poorest countries in Africa when it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1966. However, Botswana has since transformed itself, becoming one of the fast-growing economies in the world. And what are the factors that have contributed to its economic growth?

With the former Secretary General of the Botswana National Commission for UNESCO, Mr.Oteng Mokowe at the Launch of the Commissioner of UNESCO, Botswana. (c) Moonju Kim, 2016

The primary factor of its economic success was through diamonds. They have the world's largest reserves and three of the top five most profitable mines in the world. These revenues were able to help country increase growth and invest in infrastructure, education, and health service for the development of the country. However, this can not be the only reason to explain its success because there are many other countries in Africa where they have an abundance of natural resources like Botswana and they are still lagging behind. 

Botswana has shown that good institutions and implementation of good economic policies have important roles in determining long-term economic growth. Some of the success of Botswana's post-independence institutions can be connected to the continuity of traditional institutions, in particular, the kgotlas, a system of consultation between citizens and traditional authorities, which have continued to enhance the participation of the people in the decision-making processes; the successive leaders have reinforced these traditional institutions which put constraints on political elites, mitigating the risks of corruption.

Botswana's institutional transparency is also ranked 34 out of 180 countries, the highest in Africa, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index 2017 by the Transparency International, while my own country, South Korea is ranked at 51. Botswana was able to establish and maintain stable and efficient governmental institutions and keep the relatively low level of corruption compared to its neighbors.

Since independence, Botswana maintained a parliamentary democracy. It is not a perfect democracy - the country has had only one party in power since independence, the Botswana Democratic Party; women's representation in the government is limited; there are issues of inequality or representation of minority groups, particularly San people. However, in the mineral-rich countries like Botswana, democracy was the important catalyst for the government to be responsive to development needs rather than having dictatorial roles and tendencies. The multi-party system and free and fair elections have contributed to economic success by maintaining a level of government accountability to the people.

With the team of the Botswana National Commission for UNESCO during Monday briefing, Botswana. (c) Moonju Kim. 2016

Given the factors of success in Botswana, one of the examples I personally experienced was working with the people in the government. They were aware of the fact that their own country, Botswana stands out as a development success story among other countries in Africa. As the backbone of the economy, the civil servants believed that their service played a significant role by making sure that the government policy was carried out. This was through the support of the government that encouraged them to continue to be committed, support and efficiently manage services of the overall welfare and development of the nation. 

Through this well-managed organizational commitment in Botswana, the development projects we were providing was very successful. Although sometimes it was frustrating to follow a long process of the decision making within the government due to the bureaucratic complication, the most important thing was the engagement of the government in order to make sure the sustainability of the projects. With the little amount of the funds we were bringing in the country, many of the government officers from the Headquarters to the local level were involved in the planning and implementation phases of the projects which led to the successful delivery of all projects. This also provided more opportunities to receive more funds from donors as a result of their devoted and committed participation.

Celebrating Literacy day with the children at the Maothate Community Learning Centre, Botswana. (c) Moonju Kim, 2017

Looking at the success story for Botswana, is it possible for other countries to learn from their experience and benefit by applying the lessons learned to their own quest for development? According to my experience, I believe good governance was a key factor in the growth of the economy of Botswana - therefore countries looking to grow need to elect leaders committed to the development and with a low tolerance for corruption. Another key factor for success that other countries can emulate is prudent economic decision-making which mineral or other natural resource revenues are exclusively used to finance development, particularly in the social, educational, and health sectors. As Botswana offers proof of the development with good governance and wise economic policies, this can happen in Africa as well.