Botswana: A Diamond in the Rough
The Harvard Business School case study “Botswana: a diamond in the rough” deals with various reasons how Botswana became within 40 years the most successful economy in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The case study leads through Botswana’s history before the colonization by the British Empire until today, stating several factors which made Botswana more successful compared to it’s neighbour countries in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Within only 30 years a very rapid economical growth could be observed and in 2000 Botswana’s GDP growing rate reached a similar value as China.
The political situation is stable since Botswana’s independence in 1966 and their corruption is, especially compared to other African countries, very
…show more content…
As Botswana’s inhabitants were less oppressed by their colonial rulers, they were able to develop their democratically society more or less in freedom.
In accordance with the case study Botswana’s biggest success factor was the discovery of gold and diamond mines in 1968. More mines were found in the following years and Botswana became number one diamond exporter worldwide. A very important but also controversial decision by Botswana’s government was the foundation of a Joint Venture with the South African multinational company DeBeers. As a contrast, other African countries with valuable resources decided to nationalize mines and oil fields and raised taxes unproportional. Due to Botswana’s decision to cooperate with DeBeers, they became the world’s most successful international cartel.
In my opinion the discovery of the diamond mines in Botswana had a huge contribution to the country’s success today, but looking at other African countries which are rich in resources one will recognize that countries as Angola or Sierra Leone cannot document the similar successes as Botswana can do.
Coming to the question if Botswana’s success is replicable on other African countries we have to remind, that only a few African countries are as rich in valuable resources as Botswana. But as I mentioned before, even countries that are provided with similar resources, weren’t able to channel the high revenues into physical, social and human capital
West Africa produces some of the highest value diamonds in the world. West Africa is comprised of many countries like Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and more. All of these countries have fallen victim of globalization. Globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. Globalization affects every party, some positively and unfortunately for West Africa isn’t holding the good end of the stick. I believe globalization impacts Western Africa in a negative way there isn’t any noted benefits to West Africa exporting the most valuable thing on the land which is diamonds.
In Southern Africa, there were mineral discoveries in the 1860, 70, and 80’s. These discoveries had an enormous impact on Southern Africa. These discoveries lead to a “rush” of many fortune hunters and the establishment of the town of Kimberly, which grew quickly and soon became the largest urban society in the interior of Southern Africa. Soon the diamond industry was controlled by one monopolistic company. This was one negative effect of imperialism in Africa.
Ghana: wealthy because of gold; declined because of loss of trade, drought, and pressure from outside forces
Before long, Great Britain, France, and other Europeans found goods like cotton, coffee, gold, diamonds and much more that could make them millions (Doc D). After getting a taste of Africa’s natural valuables, Europeans were hooked. They began to trade their resources and before long, the hard work to seize land payed off. Great Britain; the country with the most prosperous land made six million off of imports and three million off of exports in 1854 from their South Saharan territory(Doc E). By 1900, they doubled their import revenue and increased export revenue by eighteen million (Doc E).
The Kingdom Ghana in western Africa flourished. Ghana gained control of the salt-and-gold trade (Doc. 2). This was important because Gold was used as a currency,
Africa has a history of facing many challenges, including starvation, poverty, Ebola and AIDS. AIDS, however, has become Africa’s biggest hurdle. Botswana, located in Southern Africa, has been hit the hardest by the AIDS virus with over 23% of its population contracting AIDS. In order to help fix the AIDS epidemic in Botswana, multiple things need to be reviewed, such as understanding how AIDS spread throughout Botswana, where the region currently stands on the AIDS virus, and the three solutions on how to prevent the rise in the spreading of the virus within the area. According to the website Avert, studies have shown that the most effective ways to help stop the spread of AIDS includes testing centers, intervention centers, and the distribution of more protective measures.
This paper would contain a detailed overview of African Continent’s history and evolution. Social and cultural reformations and practices would be taken into consideration. It will carry a detail oriented research on the poverty and underdevelopment issues of the continent. A brief review to the history in the relevance of the topic would be included. Developmental crises would be analysed from several perspectives. The cultural and social norms and their relation to their relation to developmental crises would be evaluated. Possible solutions regarding the limitations and issues in the developmental social and cultural prosperity and well-being would be discussed. A meaningful conclusion would be evaluated on the research
Modern African states have various problems ranging from corruption, to armed conflict, to stunted structural development. Africa’s ongoing political instability and economic crisis have hindered the improvement of Africa. Thus, the lack of money, advancement in technology, and climate has hampered economic development. Despite European mistreatment and oppression African’s have endured hardships that have encouraged economy, education, and political
“Britain was also interested in areas known to be rich in minerals like the country of Transvaal,” (David, 2011). They also aimed at keeping other countries out of their territories so as to not lose the upper hand in the search for gold and priceless gems. Because of this plan to keep other countries out, by the late 1800’s Britain was in control of about 30% of Africa’s population.
by tribalism. In a country such as Botswana which has escaped these GDP/cap is over $14000 each year. In
Germany’s imperialist experience in Namibia came with several advantages. These advantages were of a political and economic nature. Benefits experienced included an increase of trade with other powers, an increased amount of political influence, and the control over valuable resources in South West Africa. Firstly, Namibia contained many valuable resources, which Germany had control over. Resources in Namibia included diamonds, rubber plantations, copper, lead and gold (Unknown Author, 2004). This stockpile of valuable resources meant that Germany could make massive profits if the correct steps were taken. Out of all of these commodities, not only is diamond the most valuable, but it was the most abundant in South West Africa. Access to these minerals greatly expanded Germany’s portfolio of tradable commodities. Secondly, Germany received large profits from trading its colony’s resources with other powers colonies. The direct trade between Germany and Britain colonies in 1910 was nearly 630 000 British pounds. Over two thirds of this income was from South West
The region is made up of 48 countries with a population of 973.4 million as correct of 2014 (The World Bank). Furthermore, over 60% of that demographic is under 30, showing promise for an increasing working age population. Africa can use this vast labour potential to increase GDP and therefore increase the wealth of the continent.
The superimposing factor that gives South Africa such an advantage over other prospective African business environments is that it possesses of a very powerful and sophisticated vantage-point geographically. South Africa is strategically located for manufacturing and exportation into several regions globally and can be an unmitigated platform for MNC’s who may be interested in a venture within this region. The important advantages include regional competitiveness, combined with reduced operational costs and a significantly prominent market access (Safrica.info, 2011).
Angola is one of the many African countries which suffered from the Portuguese colonisation in earlier years. The colonisation these African countries suffered from (specifically Angola), began in the mid eighteenth century (Santos, 2010), where European countries identified the many resources that these countries were rich in, and found an opportunity to possess them through migrating to these countries and taking over the governance in these countries, changing the system in a way that was best suitable for them.
The country is a key investor within the East African commmunity, while the largest chunk of intraregional trade is due to Kenya. However, economic