What went right?
What went right?
Jose Nelson
Other urls found in this thread:
en.wikipedia.org
ayittey1.tumblr.com
independent.co.uk
twitter.com
Leo Morales
Everything except left.
Isaiah Roberts
Mason Martinez
Unironically, this. DeBeers and Rio Tinto, among other mining companies, are so well-invested into Botswana that it's not even funny. DeBeers execs sit on a board of directors in conjunction with government ministers running 'Debswana', a state-owned national diamond miner. We'll say nothing of how much those workers are paid or what percentage of wealth flows back into Botswana as such. Other items on the menu are your standard fare like copper and gold, but also uranium (and we'll guess who that's popular with).
I would say it's one of the few countries in Africa that is currently capable of accessing its mineral wealth; and that is in large part due to favourable governance and proximity to South Africa and South African investment. In fact, given the relative long-term stability of it compared to its neighbour (Zimbabwe) and it not suffering a shitload of floods, famine and civil war like Angola, it was always probably going to emerge as a regional player anyway. Certainly whatever money they are getting from exploiting their regional wealth is gradually trickling down - it has a phenomenal literacy rate among African countries; around 88%, too.
I did some googling. It has a low population, with fewer ethnic divides and a concentrated urban populace (the majority of Botswana being desert). I guess these are factors that could help. One might even be so callous as to say that there aren't many old people to care for with the AIDS endemic having hit the country so hard. But even that's coming under control with more people having access to education.
>t. spent a month in rural Botswana in a game park run by a former Executive Outcomes guy who used to get contracts from Debswana to bust illegal diamond syndicates in Botswana
Daniel Powell
It's the most free market nation in Africa
Juan Collins
shit man, stories?
Josiah Harris
I was charged by an elephant when I was being shown the ropes by the guy's 2IC. My guide, a six foot three African man whose anglicized name was Susan (it was his choice), was deeply amused at my fear and said Elephants basically never charge for real anyway, except for the one in twenty times that they're not faking it. This was not particularly comforting desu
Also had an elephant eat off the tree above my head one night while I slept. Slept through the whole thing. Also never left my tent between the hours of ten and six after I discovered one early morning that a pride of lion(s) had walked through the encampment; which in itself was on an elevated island next to a large section of floodplain.
Also met several locals from a village further away from the encampment (as opposed to the ones nearby who were familiar with tourists), some of whom hadn't met anyone with blonde hair before. Got blind drunk and participated in a tribal dance with the men. It was pretty eye-opening.
>and now to make this post Veeky Forums
I asked my boss one night about the nature of his work with EO, and he said that it wasn't worth bothering with and that I should stay in university, "if that was what I meant by it". Claimed that being a soldier wasn't worth the money, even with what Debswana would pay to secure their interests from what were largely Angolan/Zimbabwean funded attempts to siphon diamonds over the border.
Ian Martinez
AIDS
Caleb Barnes
Did you get to see their cowboy metal scene?
Jeremiah Thompson
Nothing
Jace Campbell
No, I didn't, but that sounds like a fucking great meme
>Fastest growing economy in Africa
>Set to take out Russia in GDP by 2030
hrmmmm
Lincoln Green
>predictions up to 2030
Those literally never work out. Remember Japan was predicted to become the world's biggest economy in the 80s? Also one Russian on Krautchan used to post a picture from IMF predictinh Russia will economically overtake Estonia by 2017, then 2014 happened and Russian economy crashed. Assuming growth rates will remain constant for the next 15 years is brainlet tier and the moral of the story is that you're a retard.
Mason Ramirez
You are right about future predictions of economy not being accurate. Can you tell me where I said such a thing?
>you implied it!
No, I was saying something was going right for now. Thank you for acknowledging the fact that Botswana has reasonable growth rates by saying the flaw is with the theory and not the growth itself.
I see you're also using HDI as the metric, and yet the UN classifies this as 'medium' economic development. It's actually second in this category when you rank countries internationally (behind Moldova). In the region ranked 6th in Africa behind Mauritius, Seychelles, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia. So in short: 2 tourism-fed island nations, and nations that have oil. Botswana's HDI is also higher than Egypt's and South Africa's.
And this is, of course, if you don't assume the HDI is an inherently flawed index that isn't an accurate indicator of 'how shit's going' (friendly reminder: China is a mere 18 ranks above Botswana at rank 90. One above China is Venezuela).
>when you call someone a brainlet on something they never said, then get BTFO on the only point you bother to argue with
absolutely sad lad. pack it up
Jack Perry
Botswana is going relatively well for a country infested with negroes. Of course, it would be FAR better without them.
Brayden Peterson
>large part due to favourable governance
Yeah, the difference doesn't seem to be that they have diamonds but rather that they have good policy around natural resources. Most other African countries are extremely resource rich but don't have good policies for any number of reasons
Justin Martin
>Set to take out Russia in GDP by 2030
Botswana isn't going to live that long.
en.wikipedia.org
Adrian Turner
>You are right about future predictions of economy not being accurate. Can you tell me where I said such a thing?
>Fastest growing economy in Africa
>Set to take out Russia in GDP by 2030
Aiden Brooks
Read the words of this wise man and you will know
ayittey1.tumblr.com
Nolan Sullivan
Love that guy.
Oliver Martin
Matthew Sanders
>A country with a population of 144 million and an AIDS rate of 1% versus a country with a population of 2.2 million and an AIDS rate of 21%
Russia has AIDS is a meme spread by people who's projections of demographic collapse in the 90's failed to materialize.
Xavier Harris
No English
No French
No Americans
No Commies
No Rwanda
No DRC
No Uganda
No French Foreign Legion
No UN
No Rhodesian mercs
REally makes you think