Economic Growth in Botswana in the 1980s: A Model for Sub-Saharan Africa

This book presents a retrospective analysis of Botswana, a country in Africa that somehow succeeded in escaping the tragedies that are so endemic in sub-Saharan African countries. Many factors, obviously, have contributed to the rapid growth rates that Botswana experienced in the 1980s, including, Patterson argues, the convergence of a constellation of factors such as the discovery of diamonds and the inflow of foreign exchange earnings from mineral, particularly diamond sales to the rest of the world.

In Economic Growth in Botswana, the author argues quite forcefully that the country’s performance was not an accident and points to a number of variables such as political stability and mineral reserves coupled with a penchant for jaw-jaw (talk) than to war-war that explain a great deal of the findings for growth and development. He then contrasts these pro-growth variables with anti-growth variables such as drought and world recession (which reduced the demand for diamonds) that developed in the early 1990s; he maintains that on balance the pro-growth variables were stronger than the anti-growth ones. Finally, Patterson asserts that the series of national development plans that, among other things, outlined when projects come on line, their estimated cost, completion date, and the policymakers’ commitment to and execution of the plans also contributed to the explanation for Botswana’s success.