Government Of Botswana Research Articles

Participatory Democracy in Southern Africa: Explaining Botswana’s Exceptionalism

Botswana has had fair and stable elections since its independence in 1966. It has a relatively high standard of living, a relatively well-functioning welfare state, and relatively low levels of government corruption. Voter participation is among the highest in the world, topping 80 percent in the past elections. Access to education and healthcare is free to all citizens. How can we best explain Botswana’s exceptionalism in the political, economic, and social realms, and what policy lessons does the case of Botswana contain? This article shows that it is Botswana’s millennial tradition of direct village democracy, kgotla, that best explains its exceptional performance. I visited Botswana in May of 2023 to evaluate the importance of participatory democracy in Botswana and assess its explanatory power. When comparing local participation to other, potentially relevant causal factors, I find that local political participation provides the most robust explanation for good governance in Botswana. In Botswana, citizens are able to hold their elected officials accountable, learn how politics works by acquiring the necessary technical knowledge (techne) through participating in regular, monthly public assemblies, and, as a result, make better-informed political decisions.

Mapping the imaginary of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education: the case of Botswana

ABSTRACT This article investigates policy-as-discourse and policy-as-technology with specific focus on how the deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education is positioned as a redemptive force in the case of Botswana. Therborn's theory of inequalities was adopted to catalogue ways in which supranational organisations and the national government of Botswana consider the potential of ICT and/ICT in education to address (in)equalities in Botswana. A deductive Directed Qualitative Content Analysis (DQICA) was adopted focusing on how the national government and supranational organisations view and present ICT in education in Botswana with regards to being an equaliser. The analysis of the evidence points to ICT in education being seen and operationalised to ameliorate existing inequalities in education and broader society, without, necessarily, questioning broader socioeconomic structural arrangements and factors sustaining inequalities.

Assuring the Sustainability and Growth of Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Enterprises in Botswana: An Exploratory Study

This paper explored the factors that impact the sustainability and growth of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in Botswana. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to survey 348 owners/managers of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in the South Eastern District of Botswana. Descriptive and inferential statistics were generated from the gathered data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Version 27.0). findings revealed that entrepreneurial factors, firm-specific factors and exogenous factors impacted the growth and sustainability of manufacturing firms in Botswana. In addition, government policies and guidelines, innovation and creativity, human capital development, access to finance, financial management skills and managerial skills were also confirmed as significantly contributing to the growth and sustainability of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises in Botswana. Key recommendations derived from these findings include the need for policymakers in the government of Botswana and private sector partners to upskill owners/managers of manufacturing enterprises on business planning, financial management, financial literacy, quality management, and market research skills. Furthermore, efforts should be accelerated to promote products manufactured in Botswana to regional and global markets.

State Strategy, Diamond Mining, and Indigenous Dispossession in Botswana

In a world-system built through dispossession and exploitation of African and Indigenous peoples, the case of the San in Botswana is significant. The government of Botswana recently led a protracted campaign of dispossession of the Indigenous San, likely due to there being diamond reserves near and within the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. This article argues that synthesizing critical theories of accumulation, dispossession, and State strategy can help us understand how and when dispossession of the Indigenous San led to commodification and/or proletarianization, while also helping to understand what became of the dispossessed. It expands theorizing on the sociology, geography, and political economy of (under)development, Indigenous rights and sovereignty, and State-Capital relations in Africa. The structural pressures for States in the periphery to cultivate extractive economies while seeking integration within the circuits of global capitalism remain present, decades after achieving colonial independence. This highlights the tensions, limitations, and illusions of successful ‘development’ in the stratified world-economy. Finally, the findings in this article critically challenge the story of Botswana being the ‘miracle’ of post-colonial Africa.

Botswana Coal: Navigating Economic Diversification and Climate Commitments

This paper considers the ethical dilemma posed by the Paris Climate Agreement considering the abundant coal exploitation opportunities in Botswana. The estimated 200 billion tons of coal was initially viewed as an opportunity to diversify the Botswana economy away from diamonds. Coal is currently used locally for electricity production and other small scale domestic uses. This paper mainly discusses thermal coal as opposed to coking coal commonly referred to as Met-coal. Lucrative prices on world markets coupled with demand in India and China for coal, Botswana with its massive coal deposits, one of the largest in world, can develop a new export sector which would diversify the diamond dependent economy. In 2012 the Government of Botswana released a Coal Road Map as it then envisaged coal as one of the more propitious areas for economic diversification. However, the potential to develop this export sector has been seriously challenged by the Paris Climate Agreement decision to move away from coal. In the wake of this treaty countries like China and Japan have refocused their efforts in developing renewable energy and this has negatively hampered Botswana’s economic ambitions.

Reflections on Chiefs as Ex Officio Members of the Land Boards, Botswana

The government of Botswana enacted the Tribal Land Act in 1968, which created statutory land boards in 1970. They replaced dikgosi (chiefs) from the administration of tribal land. However, from 1970 to 1984, dikgosi wielded considerable power in these five to six member boards then, as the only ex officio members. They had the legal authority to appoint one member, of their choice, to the land board. In most instances, the kgosi (chief), or his appointee, became the board’s chair and influenced its decisions. The Tribal Land (Amendment of Schedule) Order of 1984 introduced a major change by removing dikgosi’s powers to appoint anyone to the land board. It introduced the democratic elections of members of the land boards by communities. However, this has since been discontinued also in favour of the controversial ‘direct’ appointment by the Minister. Dikgosi remain ceremonial ex officio members of the land boards, with no voting rights, a situation they strongly abhor. This article critically analyses the status and role of dikgosi as ex officio members of the land boards within the framework of the Tribal Land Act since 1968. It also draws from other relevant legislations, secondary sources, and the views of some former land board members.

The Nexus between Marriage & Succession Laws: Dissecting Estate Allocation and Governance in Botswana

The Nexus between Marriage & Succession Laws: Dissecting Estate Allocation and Governance in Botswana

Performance Evaluation of Distribution System Interconnected with Solar PV Plants Using DIgSILENT

Many African countries, such as Botswana, receive high insolation that can be used to generate electricity. However, they still rely on thermal power generation and imports from neighbouring countries through various African power pools. Thermal generation methods result in an increase in carbon footprint. Therefore, in pursuance of the global climate change goals, the Government of Botswana has subscribed to allow all end users with the capacity to install solar rooftops and sell extra electricity to the power utility. These interconnections of solar PV plants to the grid are bound to bring challenges to the steady state system performance. This research, therefore, evaluates the performance of the integrated system focusing on the greater Gaborone distribution system (GGDS), where five government projects are being piloted. The study has adopted two scenarios by providing a performance comparative analysis between the system baselines to a solar integrated system using DIgSILENT Power Factory software. The system studies conducted include power flow, effects on voltage and line loading. This research found out that integrating PV plants to GGDS distribution network improves voltage profiles and a decrease in overall percentage loading of the feeders and interconnectors. However, some notes could only permit a limited loading. In conclusion, the implications of the effects of solar PV on the distribution system differ from one circuit to another; therefore, it calls for utilities to conduct an intensive network assessment for each particular feeder before interconnecting with solar.

Framework for development of digital records preservation in the cloud in Botswana

The deployment of digital systems in the delivery of public services by the Government of Botswana has seen an increase in the generation of digital records. Without preservation efforts over time, the continued availability of digital records is not guaranteed. The reverse side of this is that a focused records preservation regime ensures access to and accurate digital records in the long term, regardless of the challenges of media failure and technological change. Lack of an adequate legal and policy framework on digital material preservation; gaps in human resources in terms of knowledge, skills, and competencies to drive digital material preservation; lack of appropriate standards for digital records preservation; and limited collaborative efforts towards digital records preservation are some of the challenges in digital records preservation in Botswana. Despite these challenges related to digital records preservation, developing countries in Africa are increasingly embracing the use of cloud computing technology for the management and preservation of digital records due to its benefits. In the developed world, cloud computing has matured into a viable option for the management and preservation of digital records. This study utilised a review of literature, supplemented by document analysis, to propose a framework for digital preservation of records in the cloud in the context of e-government in the Botswana public sector. It is guided by concepts from the Policy, Strategy and Resources troika model as a lens to frame the study. The model provides the key elements of policy, strategy, and resources as necessary for the preservation of records in Botswana’s public sector, using cloud computing as a platform. The proposed framework for the preservation of digital records may benefit public sector organisations that endeavour to adopt cloud computing for records preservation.

The impact of free antiretroviral therapy for pregnant non-citizens and their infants in Botswana.

In December 2019, the Botswana government expanded free antiretroviral therapy (ART) to include non-citizens. We evaluated the impact of this policy change on antenatal care (ANC), antiretroviral therapy coverage and adverse birth outcomes. The Tsepamo Surveillance study collects data at up to 18 delivery sites in Botswana. We compared outcomes in citizens and non-citizens living with HIV before and after antiretroviral therapy expansion to non-citizens. Adverse birth outcomes included preterm delivery (PTD) <37 weeks, very preterm delivery (VPTD) <32 weeks, small for gestational age (SGA) <10th percentile, very small for gestational age (VSGA) <3rd percentile, stillbirth and neonatal death. Log-binomial regression models were constructed to generate risk ratios. From August 2014 to September 2021, 45,576 (96.5%) citizens and 1513 (3.2%) non-citizens living with HIV delivered; 954 (62.9%) non-citizen deliveries were before the antiretroviral therapy expansion, and 562 (37.1%) were after. Non-citizen ANC attendance among pregnant people living with HIV increased from 79.2% pre-expansion to 87.2% post-expansion (p<0.001), and became more similar to citizens (96.0% post-expansion). Non-citizens receiving any antenatal antiretroviral therapy increased from 65.5% pre-expansion to 89.9% post-expansion (p < 0.001), also more similar to citizens (97.2% post-expansion). Infants born to non-citizens with singleton gestations in the pre-expansion period had significantly greater risk of PTD (aRR = 1.28, 95% CI, 1.11, 1.46), VPTD (aRR = 1.89, 95% CI, 1.43, 2.44) and neonatal death (aRR = 1.69, 95% CI, 1.03, 2.60), but reduced SGA risk (aRR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.62, 0.89) compared with citizens. Post-expansion, greater declines in most adverse outcomes were observed in non-citizens, with largely similar outcomes between non-citizens and citizens. Non-significant differences were observed for non-citizenship in PTD (aRR = 0.84, 95% CI, 0.66, 1.06), VPTD (aRR = 0.57, 95% CI, 0.28, 1.01), SGA (aRR = 0.91, 95% CI, 0.72, 1.13), VSGA (aRR = 0.87, 95% CI, 0.58, 1.25), stillbirth (aRR = 0.71, 95% CI, 0.35, 1.27) and neonatal death (aRR = 1.35, 95% CI, 0.60, 2.62). Following the expansion of free antiretroviral therapy to non-citizens, gaps narrowed in ANC and antiretroviral therapy use in pregnancy between citizens and non-citizens living with HIV. Disparities in adverse birth outcomes were no longer observed.

Behind the scenes: A critical discourse analysis of Botswana government power plays on Facebook during two post-millennial state-owned organizational crises

This article examines Facebook posts in Botswana to determine how government public relations (PR) practitioners used language to help protect the reputation of two state-owned agencies during times of crisis. For insufficiently prepared PR practitioners, crises can quickly become complex owing to the proliferation of social media which has dramatically reshaped crisis communication in non-Western, multicultural contexts. While crisis communication has drawn more scholarly interest, the way the Botswana Government use language to maintain power and legitimacy during emergencies represents a fresh case study. We use Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in our scrutiny of the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) crisis of 2011, and the Botswana Railways (BR) crisis of 2019. The analysis reveals a corporate ideology of economic development used as an underlying manipulative and propagandistic form of organized persuasive communication (OPC) strategy aimed at establishing and maintaining power. The article also demonstrates how, via this strategy, the government uses state power to galvanize support and mobilize audiences to rally behind state-owned organizations.

The role of orphans and vulnerable children programme in addressing household food insecurity in Botswana

Among the total population, orphans and vulnerable children are more susceptible to food insecurity than their counterparts. To address this challenge, the government of Botswana introduced the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)’s Programme. This article discusses the role of the OVC Programme in addressing food insecurity within their households in Botswana. It emphasizes that OVC programme has an important role in addressing food insecurity among OVC households. Challenges that hinder ensuring food security among OVC households are discussed. The article offers recommendations on how challenges of the OVC programme can be addressed such as the need to re-structure government and administrative systems for effective and efficient service delivery. The suggested recommendations can be utilized by policymakers when reviewing the OVC programme guidelines. How to reference using ASWNet style:Lefadola, B. P. &amp; Ntshwarang, P. N. (2023). The role of orphans and vulnerable children programme in addressing household food insecurity in Botswana. African Journal of Social Work, 13(4), 188-196. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v13i4.2 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

An assessment of the employability of learners who attained their qualifications through recognition of prior learning in Botswana

This study assessed the abilities and competencies of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) graduates in Botswana and their employability. Twelve participants identified from various RPL education and training fields, and hairdressing and beauty therapy services were interviewed. The findings indicate that RPL has overall life-shaping consequences for the learners involved and for this reason, it was highly embraced by participants; RPL gives learners access to post-school education, including other qualifications; RPL benefits learners and it is thus value for money invested by the Botswana Government. Therefore, the promotion of social inclusion should be embraced and adopted as a mode of assessment to capacitate human resource development in Botswana. The article concludes by recommending a partnership between Government and relevant institutions and organisations to audit skills in the country to uncover the unused skills, as well as to design RPL that is relevant to the local needs.

Analyzing the Nature of Contractor Claims and Strategies for their Effective Management: A case of BuildServe in Botswana

Though contractor claims are inevitable, the frequency of their occurrence and their impact on project cost, time or both, can be minimized with effective management by a client during the pre-contact and post-contract phases. The article discusses findings of a study that investigated the nature of claims and the level of effectiveness in managing them by an organisation code named, BuildServe. The latter manages building construction projects for the government of Botswana. A total of 32 projects, implemented in a five-year period (2015-19), were selected and yielded 79 construction claims for the study. A mixed-method approach was employed to analyze and understand their nature. Apart from project document review, experiences of project managers were solicited through interviews, a Delphi technique and a focus group discussion. Results indicated that a majority (61%) of the claims related to requests for extension of time with additional cost while the rest were purely requesting for extension of time (31%) or cost (8%). Furthermore, results indicated that on average the completion period was twice the contracted duration of which the awarded extension of time contributed half (49.8%) of the project delays, the other half is due to rejected (21.3%) and non-claimed delays (28.9%). In addition, majority (56%) of the claims were due to client breaches of contractual clauses while others were due to common law (19%) and quantum meruit (9%) breaches. Client breaches related to various delays (48%) and changes (22%) to project work. The results indicated that BuildServe needed to improve its claim management regime, an aspect confirmed by the by project managers’ self-assessment who noted that first, there is a lack of institutionalization of project evaluation to harness lesson learned from past project implementation experiences. Second, there was also a need for restraint by the client especially in reducing project changes and delays on decisions or actions that affect project work. It is hoped that improving these areas will reduce avoidable claims and hopefully curtail project time and cost overruns.

Services as a Determinant of Botswana's Economic Sustainability.

In 2015, the services sector contributed about 58 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which was a significant increase from the 47.6 percent observed in 2005, and a shift from the mining, agriculture, and manufacturing sector. This increase calls to support services as the catalyst for sustained economic development as indicated by the structural transformation and modernization theories. The main objective of this paper was to examine the relationship between and the impact of services on the economic development in Botswana and make recommendations on how Botswana can apply well-directed policies to improve its services sector and diversify its impact on other sectors and GDP, making it less reliant on mining which is vulnerable to price volatilities. The paper applied econometric modeling and results of the Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds test for cointegration indicate that services and other industries services, agriculture, industry, mining, and investment impact GDP over the short and long run. These variables impacted GDP and converged to equilibrium at the speed of 46.89 percent, with a percent change in services in the short and long run impacting GDP by 0.328 and 0.241 percentages, respectively, and the outcome of the Wald test indicated causality from services to GDP growth. The services sectors have contributed over 40 percent to the country's GDP from 1995 to the present, though the sectors have not gone without challenges with limitations such as limited infrastructure development; poverty and inequality; unemployment of over 20 percent; disease, which has dampened productivity; and lack of proper governance and accountability, which has created a habitat for an increase in cases of corruption in state and private entities. The findings of the study with the lessons learned from other studies with similar findings recommend that the government of Botswana should formulate suitable policies and strategies for services diversification. This is by expanding the market for the sector in areas such as tourism that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating investments by instituting strategies to attract and grow domestic and foreign investments, and improve on management of institutions and resources.

Etnografia della transizione culturale nelle comunità San del Kalahari

During her palaeoanthropological and ethnoarchaeological research at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, between 2007 and 2014, Lucinda Backwell privately collected a significant amount of objects produced by the San communities who currently live in Kalahari reserves, assigned to them by the governments of Botswana and Namibia: the villages around Tsumkwe, in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, the village of Kacgae in the district of Ghanzi and the Transfrontier Park on the border between Botswana and South Africa. Initially motivated by the desire to offer some economic support to the communities by purchasing some products of their craftsmanship, the author realized that it would be important to document the culture of the San and the elements in transition. With this in mind, she put together a collection of over 400 artifacts, which in 2018 she donated to the Natural History Museum of Florence. This work aims to document the collection and highlight its ethnographic meaning, considering the archaeological traces that attest to the antiquity of the San culture, and the evidence on the current living conditions of a people threatened in their survival.

Political Settlements Analysis of Natural Resource Governance in Botswana

ABSTRACT Natural resources are abundant in Africa and must be used to achieve macroeconomic goals like growth and development. Political settlements are important to achieving these results because they materially affect how natural resource governance is carried out. The pursuit of growth and development is impacted by these settlements. Political settlements may either make it easier or harder to achieve these macroeconomic goals. Natural resource rents in some polities do not result in growth and development because of win-lose political agreements. However, this need not be the case as demonstrated by the Botswana case. This study used Botswana as a case study to illustrate political settlements analysis of natural resource governance. It asked, ‘what effect do political settlements have on the management of natural resources in Botswana?’ It concluded that win-win political settlements produced inclusive resource exploitation, resulting in economic growth and development and a rise in citizen welfare. The final lesson for resource-rich African nations is to establish political settlements that promote both economic growth and development to increase societal welfare.

ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT POLICIES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF 4-STAR HOTELS IN GABORONE (A CASE OF PEERMONT MONDIOR HOTEL)

Purpose: Procurement policies implementation has been recognized as the most difficult challenge affecting the government funded four-star hotel hotels in Gaborone, Botswana, and their attempts to attain economic growth of the country. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the effective implementation of public procurement legislation as well as the performances of Gaborone's four-star hotel. A case of Peermont Mondior Hotel.&#x0D; Methodology: The study used descriptive research design, and applied a census design since the target population of 43 respondents was a manageable number.&#x0D; Findings: According to the analysis, payment policies, access to information policies and tendering policies had a positive and significant relation with on the performance of Peermont Mondior Hotel, with a P-value of less than 0.05. However, procurement of consultancy policies was not significant.&#x0D; Unique contribution to theory, practice, and policy: The study recommends 4-star hotels to continually implement public procurement policies from the government in order to improve their performance. Further the government of Botswana should redefine payment policies, increase funding in the procurement of consultancy policies and enhance continuous technology innovation in support of the 4-star hotels performance.

Botswana’s response to the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19): Lessons for disaster preparedness and management introduction

ABSTRACT The success of any government’s efforts to sustainably reduce the risk of and/or manage disasters depends to a large extent on the people’s knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and perceptions of the risk posed by the disaster. This study assessed the government and communities of Botswana’s response to the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19). The survey utilised a stratified three-stage probability sampling design to select respondents according to strata constituting primary sampling units (PSUs). Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to evaluate differences between respondents’ knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and perceptions of COVID-19 according to their localities (urban, villages and rural areas). Results show that even though Botswana was not prepared for a national public health disaster of the magnitude of COVID-19, its timely adoption of the disease preventive strategy seems to have weathered the storm for some time (66% urban, 64.9% villages, 37.1% remote areas; p < 0.003).

The paradox of informality and sustainable human settlement in Botswana

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to inform policy and contribute to the existing literature on low-income housing.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a case study approach was adopted, and data were collected through secondary data collection that is literature survey and through empirical data collection by conducting face to face interviews and survey of key stakeholders, citizens, and government authorities, and in some cases supplemented by on site photography. The data collected from the field was analysed using quantitative and qualitative techniques. The questionnaires were coded for scientific analysis of data. The information was presented in a structured way that permits for in-depth analysis of the data.FindingsIn this study, many paradoxes were noted defying common sense, but nonetheless, they require a solution. It has been concluded that, while efforts to improve settlements and anticipate future ones are becoming more common, the desire for eradication persists in many towns in Botswana.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation of this study is that it was done during the period of COVID-19 induced movement restrictions. As a result, the preferred face to face interviews with key informants were not possible.Practical implicationsThis research informed policy on low-income housing in Botswana. The Government of Botswana can use the findings of this study to formulate policies which help in alleviating challenges currently faced in practice when implementing low-income housing projects. The concept of low-income housing has been adopted by many developing countries including in Africa. As such, results of this study can also be applicable in other developing countries where they can be used as a starting point for evaluating the success of policies and the practice of low-income housing.Originality/valueThis work made original contribution to knowledge by putting the plight of housing the urban poor in Botswana will in perspective.