Democracy’s gems in Botswana
A midsummer survey of attitudes about democracy in more than three dozen African countries captured a common desire reflected in the outcomes of elections all around the world this year. “The evidence suggests that nurturing support for democracy will require strengthening integrity in local government and official accountability,” Afrobarometer stated.
In Botswana, a surprising ballot upset revealed an important factor shaping those aspirations: a breaking down of what one African think tank called a “dependency mindset.”
The small nation in the Kalahari Desert was one of the poorest in Africa when it was established in 1966, but it became over time one of the continent’s most stable and prosperous. The reason was diamonds. Unlike most countries endowed with a singular wealth-generating natural resource, Botswana avoided most of the traps of the “resource curse.” It had dependable tax rules, protections for private priority, and notably little corruption.
But also little agility. The rise of lab-grown diamonds, mostly from China, has set shocks through the industry. Prices are down 6% this year alone, according to international indexes, and are still tumbling. That has compounded conditions in Botswana, where employment has failed to keep pace with a rising new generation. Joblessness has reached 28%, exacerbating income inequality.
Trust has fallen, too. Just 30% of citizens, the Afrobarometer survey found, were satisfied with democracy in Botswana, down from 70% a decade ago.
Last week, voters showed their frustration. They ousted the party that has ruled the southern African nation for 58 years in favor of a new coalition of opposition parties led by a Harvard-educated human rights lawyer. In his first act after taking power Monday, Duma Boko nominated a young economist with an MBA from the Wharton School and a reputation for fighting corruption to be his vice president.
The abundance of a single natural resource can be ruinous. In Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, oil and cobalt have fueled rampant long-term corruption, poverty, and conflict. Some countries are striving to break such dependency. In Saudi Arabia, for example, reforms empowering women in the workplace reflect a shift in both value and values. A country made rich by a finite commodity is cultivating new wealth in a more inclusive workforce.
Mr. Boko has signaled a similar shift. “We are an economy that depends on diamonds. ... So we have to safeguard the goose that lays the golden egg and have some revenue generation while we pursue diversification” of the economy, he said Friday. Like the rest of Africa, Botswana is brimming with a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs eager for opportunity.
Mr. Boko acknowledged that his election “happened in full view of every citizen of this country with their full participation and endorsement.” That humility and respect for his fellow citizens may enable him to see them as the diamonds of a more diverse and equitable economy.
