A fence seals off Orapa town in the remote interior of Botswana from its desert surroundings. Off-limits to outsiders, the town was planned for the employees of the diamond company De Beers. It was here that, just a year after independence, prospectors discovered the site of the world’s largest diamond mine.
Before this discovery, this arid and landlocked country was one of Africa’s poorest. Botswana had limited prospects for growth as the economy relied on cattle-rearing and subsistence agriculture. Since independence in 1966, however, Botswana’s annual growth rates have been the highest in the world – bar none. It is estimated that were it not for the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, growth rates would be one or two per cent higher today. The country is typically labelled an African success story due to its political stability and its management of mineral revenues and fiscal resources. Botswana’s track record and geostrategic location made the capital Gaborone the chosen location for the headquarters of the regional organization, the Southern African Development Community.
