COUNTRY PROFILE 2002 Botswana Lesotho This Country Profile is a reference work, which provides analysis of historical, political, infrastructural and economic trends. It is revised and updated annually. The EIU’s quarterly Country Reports analyse current trends and provide a two-year forecast. The full publishing schedule for Country Profiles is now available on our website at http://www.eiu.com/schedule The Economist Intelligence Unit 15 Regent St, London SW1Y 4LR United Kingdom The Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit is a specialist publisher serving companies establishing and managing operations across national borders. For over 50 years it has been a source of information on business developments, economic and political trends, government regulations and corporate practice worldwide. 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EIU Country Profile 2002 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2002 1 Contents Botswana 4 Basic data 5 Politics 5 Political development 7 Constitution, institutions and administration 8 Political forces 10 International relations and defence 12 Resources and infrastructure 12 Population 13 Education and health 15 Natural resources and the environment 16 Transport, communications and the Internet 17 Energy provision 18 The economy 18 Economic structure 20 Economic policy 25 Economic performance 26 Economic sectors 26 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 27 Mining and semi-processing 29 Manufacturing 30 Construction 31 Financial services 32 Other services 33 The external sector 33 Trade in goods 34 Invisibles and the current account 35 Capital flows and foreign debt 37 Foreign reserves and the exchange rate 38 Appendices 38 Regional organisations 38 Sources of information 40 Reference tables 40 Population 40 Transport statistics 41 Telecommunications 41 Gross domestic product 41 Sectoral origins of gross domestic product 42 Trend of gross domestic product by sector 42 Employment by sector 43 Average monthly earnings by sector 43 Minimum monthly wages 44 Recurrent expenditure for NDP8 44 Government finances 45 Money supply 45 Interest rates EIU Country Profile 2002 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2002 2 45 Consumer prices 46 Consumer price index 46 Livestock numbers 46 Production of principal crops 46 Mineral production by volume and value 47 Building plans approved 47 Botswana Stock Exchange, domestic shares 47 Foreign trade 48 Exports by destination 48 Imports by origin 48 Balance of payments, national estimates 49 Balance of payments, IMF estimates 49 External debt, World Bank estimates 50 Net official development assistance 50 Foreign reserves 50 Exchange rates Lesotho 51 Basic data 52 Politics 52 Political development 55 Constitution, institutions and administration 57 Political forces 59 International relations and defence 61 Resources and infrastructure 61 Population 62 Education and health 63 Natural resources and the environment 63 Transport, communications and the Internet 64 Energy provision 66 The economy 66 Economic structure 67 Economic policy 70 Economic performance 72 Economic sectors 72 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 73 Mining and quarrying 73 Manufacturing 74 Construction 75 Financial services 76 Other services 77 The external sector 77 Trade in goods 78 Invisibles and the current account 79 Capital flows and foreign debt 80 Foreign reserves and the exchange rate EIU Country Profile 2002 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2002 3 81 Appendices 81 Regional organisations 86 Sources of information 88 Reference tables 88 Population 88 Government revenue and expenditure 89 Summary of recent fiscal trends 89 Money supply and credit 89 Gross domestic product 90 Gross national product 90 Gross domestic product by sector 90 Migrant miners' deferred pay and remittances 90 Consumer prices 91 Estimated livestock numbers 91 Commercial banking statistics 91 Principal interest rates 91 Foreign trade 92 Composition of exports 92 Origin of imports cif 92 Destination of exports fob 92 Balance of payments, national estimates 95 Balance of payments, IMF estimates 95 Net official development assistance 95 External debt 95 Disbursed public external debt outstanding 95 Foreign reserves 95 Exchange rates © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2002 EIU Country Profile 2002 4 Botswana Botswana Basic data Land area 581,730 sq km Population 1.7m (2001 population census, preliminary results) Main towns Population (2001 population census, preliminary results) Gaborone (capital) 185,891 Francistown 84,406 Selebi-Phikwe 50,012 Climate Subtropical Weather in Gaborone Hottest month, January, 19-33°C; coldest month, June, 5-23°C (average daily (altitude 1,000 metres) minimum and maximum); driest months, July-August, 1 mm average rainfall; wettest months, January-February, 105 mm average rainfall Languages Setswana and English Measures Metric system Currency Pula (P)=100 thebe. Average exchange rate in 2001: P5.84:US$1; exchange rate on February 27th 2002: P6.75:US$1 Time 2 hours ahead of GMT Public holidays (2002) January 1st (New Year’s Day), January 2nd, March 29th (Good Friday), March 30th, April 1st (Easter Monday), May 1st (Labour Day), May 9th (Ascension Day), July 1st (Sir Seretse Khama Day), July 15th (President’s Day), September 30th (Botswana Day), 1st October, December 25th (Christmas Day) and December 26th (Boxing Day) EIU Country Profile 2002 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2002 Botswana 5 Politics The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) came to power in 1965, leading the country to independence in 1966. Although the growing urban population has become frustrated with high unemployment and increasing income disparities, the BDP’s rural support network, together with disunity among the opposition groups, has ensured that its power base remains undiminished. The BDP, led by the president, Festus Mogae, currently occupies 33 of the 44 seats in parliament and will remain in power at least until the next legislative election, which is due by October 2004. Political development The emergence of a The earliest inhabitants of what is now Botswana were almost certainly the nation state nomadic Basarwa (commonly known as Bushmen). During the 17th and 18th centuries the area was settled by Tswana-speaking peoples whose communities overlapped into what are now South Africa’s North-West and Northern Provinces, as well as Zimbabwe. Europeans began to venture into the region in the early 19th century. In 1872 Khama III emerged as the most prominent indigenous leader and built up a powerful army. As expansionary pressure from the Afrikaners in South Africa increased, intensified by the discovery of gold near Francistown, Khama III sought protection from the British. In 1885 Britain declared a protectorate, British Bechuanaland, over Khama’s people and annexed Tswana-inhabited territory in the Northern Cape to its own Cape Colony. After the Cape Colony became part of the South African Union in 1910, white South African leaders pushed for the incorporation of the rest of Bechuanaland into the Union. Khama III retained control of local administration, law and justice in British Bechuanaland. He also resisted pressure to grant mining concessions to the British South Africa Company and successfully prevented unification with South Africa. Economically, however, the protectorate remained neglected, being little more than a transport route to countries to the north and a labour reservoir for South African mines and farms. Cattle ownership remained at the core of Tswana society. Independence A grandson of Khama III, Seretse Khama, founded the BDP, which won most of the elected seats in the pre-independence poll of 1965. At independence