Botswana is not a country that you hear about often; even in Africa, many educated people do not know much about the country. This is partly because it is not a country that makes a lot of noise anywhere! Yet, this large nation (about 600,000 km2), with a small population (about 2.5m), has been described as a success story, both economically and politically. According to the Harvard International Review (HIR), here are the reasons why:

“Once one of the poorest countries in the world, Botswana has experienced growth and development post-independence at a pace second to none. Today, Botswana stands as the least corrupt nation in mainland Africa, boasts the highest economic freedom score in the region, and maintains a GDP per capita on par with other emerging economies, such as Brazil and Turkey. Botswana’s economic, social, and political development represents one of modern Africa’s greatest success stories: a story that provides valuable insights on how strong leadership, with a keen emphasis on pragmatism over ideology, can guide nations out of poverty.”https://lnkd.in/dcxujuD8.

There are two things to add to the above succinct outline of the HIR. These observations come from my personal experience of once living with the Batswana as “the foreign son” and my interest in the country since then. These are the abilities of:
1) To detect and weather potential political storms in time before they turn into political hurricanes; and
2) Merging African traditions with modernity.

On the other hand, the failures to achieve the above two conditions have repeatedly scourged our beloved Africa, resulting in short term street songs and dances but long term “worse-than-before” situations very often! Our beloved continent is tired of dancing on broken legs to music without meaning and revolutions with no evolutions!

Please watch this video for an example of my second point. In the video, you will see an event with a fascinating historical background (again, very little known about!) of how this country of the wondrous Okavango, glittering diamonds and tall pygmies, brings back a Sandhurst-trained General and former President, with a British mother and an African father, to take his father’s place as history and tradition’s King but today’s Paramount Chief of his people:
https://hir.harvard.edu/botswana-prosperity/