Botswana looks at beef and coal to diversify economy

VICTORIA – Diamond-rich Botswana plans to diversify its economy base by increasing beef and coal exports while cautiously expanding tourism, President Festus Mogae said on Tuesday.

Diamonds generate half of Botswana’s revenue and a third of gross domestic product, which has grown an average 8 per cent a year in the past two decades, making it one of the region’s best-performing economies. But diamond production is set to decline from 2015, posing a major challenge for a country grappling with one of the world’s highest rates of HIV-AIDS, and poor infrastructure.”We already export beef to the European Community and to South Africa and we are trying to restructure our livestock industry by modernising it for higher yields,” Mogae told reporters during a trip to the Seychelles.Mogae said Botswana, known for its Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Okavango delta, also planned to grow its tourism industry.”However, we are constrained because of the kind of tourism we offer, which is wildlife and wilderness, because it is only wilderness so long as few people come there,” he said.”If we increase the number of people significantly then it loses meaning,” he added.Mogae also said Botswana was looking at ways to boost coal production.Energy officials in the arid southern African nation say Botswana’s coal and gas reserves have the potential to grow into an industry as big as its diamond sector.Invited to the Seychelles to celebrate National Day on June 18, Mogae said he and Seychellois President James Michel discussed ways of overcoming the challenge of being excluded from concessional loans and grants based on their countries’ per capita income.”As you know we belong to the so-called middle-income developing countries who increasingly feel we are being victimised for the moderate success we have made,” he said, without giving further details.Nampa-ReutersBut diamond production is set to decline from 2015, posing a major challenge for a country grappling with one of the world’s highest rates of HIV-AIDS, and poor infrastructure.”We already export beef to the European Community and to South Africa and we are trying to restructure our livestock industry by modernising it for higher yields,” Mogae told reporters during a trip to the Seychelles.Mogae said Botswana, known for its Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Okavango delta, also planned to grow its tourism industry.”However, we are constrained because of the kind of tourism we offer, which is wildlife and wilderness, because it is only wilderness so long as few people come there,” he said.”If we increase the number of people significantly then it loses meaning,” he added.Mogae also said Botswana was looking at ways to boost coal production.Energy officials in the arid southern African nation say Botswana’s coal and gas reserves have the potential to grow into an industry as big as its diamond sector.Invited to the Seychelles to celebrate National Day on June 18, Mogae said he and Seychellois President James Michel discussed ways of overcoming the challenge of being excluded from concessional loans and grants based on their countries’ per capita income.”As you know we belong to the so-called middle-income developing countries who increasingly feel we are being victimised for the moderate success we have made,” he said, without giving further details.Nampa-Reuters