A Study On Botswana's Export Diversification

Botswana is praised for good governance and economic stability this is because,given the fact that it was one of the poorest countries before independence,now it is a middle class country after just 30 years.Nevertheless economic weaknesses are concealed,particularly in that the country is heavily dependent on diamond mining revenues.Unfortunately,these revenues will begin to cease from 2027,when diamond begin to reserves diminish.This research will provide a good theoretical framework upon which policy makers in Botswana can develop successful policy reforms to build the export diversification process that will improve the economy of Botswana.In terms of academic contribution,this research will form a strong foundation upon which further researches into the diversification of Botswana's export can be based.Since export diversification is qualitative in nature and achievable through policy reforms,this desk study is enriched by Botswana trade policy study in conjunction with statistical information from trusted databases.Assessing Botswana's export structure reveals areas of concern posed by the structure.The theoretical analysis explores the factor conditions necessary for export diversification collected from different scholars including country size,quality of institutions and governance,location and market size among others.Additionally,the experiences from other resource rich countries,Chile,Mozambique and Malaysia,reveals key lessons of which Botswana can implement.The findings suggest that the government of Botswana should pay attention to the business environment for investors,access to finance especially for small medium enterprises,incentive regime,trade facilitation,skills(human accumulation)and export promotion programs in order for the country to become a conducive environment that will facilitate the process of diversifying exports.Additionally,sector specific initiatives are recommended,focusing on increasing exports in the beef industry,hides/skin production,automobile sector and the textile sector.All in All,Botswana should design long term strategies and implement institutional reforms that foster export diversification.