Botswana, long hailed as Africa’s resource success story, has largely avoided the “resource curse” that has trapped many resource-rich nations. Yet decades of untapped opportunities and limited economic diversification have left the country facing a different challenge—one that threatens the creation of generational wealth.
Speaking at the C-Suite Botswana Legacy Builders launch, Charles Tibone, Chairman of Motor Holdings Botswana, reflected on these missed opportunities. He warned that without long-term planning and citizen-focused investment strategies, Botswana risks letting future prospects slip away just as past ones have.
Tibone argued that the country’s biggest challenge remains the lack of economic diversification. Drawing on his experience at the Ministry of Mineral Resources—where he spent 10 years as Permanent Secretary and two years as Minister—he recounted efforts to persuade mining giant De Beers to invest beyond mining.
“We were unsuccessful,” he admitted.
He highlighted that South Africa’s diversified economy was driven less by government policy and more by companies such as De Beers and Anglo-American. Tibone said his team had attempted to encourage similar investment in Botswana, noting that at one point, about 60 percent of De Beers’ revenues came from the country. “Yet one does not see much of their involvement outside of mining,” he said.
Tibone also described the Botswana-De Beers partnership as “Siamese twins.” While the relationship is celebrated as a model of government-private sector collaboration, he said Botswana has largely channelled revenues into social infrastructure, while De Beers contributed little to diversification initiatives.
“My take here is that as a result of the high turnover of senior officials in charge of negotiations, the government has lost opportunities to create generational wealth, which could have come from investment by some of these entities in other areas of the economy,” he said.
He stressed that foreign investors should expand beyond their initial investments. Botswana, he argued, has missed chances to encourage them to diversify their involvement.
Tibone cited examples where the government could have acted to retain economic opportunities. The Bank of Credit and Commerce Botswana, a subsidiary of the now-defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International, was profitable but was not taken over by local investors. Instead, a South African bid was approved, paving the way for the creation of First National Bank of Botswana.
Another example was Barclays Bank UK’s sale of its African operations. A Batswana bid for the profitable Botswana branch was rejected in favour of ABSA. “Yet another opportunity to diversify into financial services was very easily missed,” he said.
Tibone said the government lacks a coordinated long-term strategy to meaningfully involve citizens in the economy. Past initiatives, such as the Financial Assistance Policy, initially showed promise but eventually faded. “Currently, there are very few Batswana in the private sector,” he observed.
Despite this history, Tibone remains optimistic that Botswana can capitalise on future opportunities. “Wherever these opportunities occur, the country must not miss them,” he said. He called for a long-term vision spanning 50 to 100 years.
“What country, Botswana, would you like to be 50 years from now? A hundred years from now? The planning must start now. Without long-term planning, the youth will forever be disadvantaged. If we have a vision and know what we would like to be 50 years from now, we will succeed,” he said.
