Unlock the Editor’s Digest totally free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.
The occasion that ruled diamond-rich Botswana, one among Africa’s wealthiest and most steady nations, has misplaced energy for the primary time in practically 60 years.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi, 63, conceded defeat on Friday earlier than the ultimate tally from Wednesday’s election got here in, urging supporters of his Botswana Democratic occasion to stay calm and saying he would help “a easy transition course of forward of the inauguration”.
The left-leaning opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change, led by Harvard-educated Duma Boko, a human rights lawyer, seemed set to interchange the long-ruling BDP after securing 25 seats within the 61-seat legislature. Members of parliament elect the president.
Boko, 54, has not made an official assertion, however his Wikipedia entry has already been up to date, calling him the “president-elect”.
Though Botswana, a rustic of two.5mn individuals with a GDP per capita of above $7,000 at market costs, is taken into account one of many best-run nations on the continent, Masisi’s presidency was rattled by an financial droop and allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
Falling world demand for diamonds, which account for four-fifths of the nation’s exports and which have been hit by competitors from artificial stones, has knocked the economic system. Development in GDP final yr dropped to 2.7 per cent, from 5.5 per cent in 2022. Not less than one in 4 individuals is unemployed.
“The economic system has been struggling, partially as a result of the explosion in lab-grown diamonds damped the worth of pure diamonds,” stated Peter Fabricius, a advisor for the Pretoria-based Institute for Safety Research.
Botswana has been credited with managing its diamond business properly and avoiding the useful resource curse by negotiating good offers with De Beers, which dominates the business. But it surely has struggled to diversify its economic system.
Botswana’s transition of energy comes at a vital second for the world’s greatest diamond enterprise, as Anglo American is getting ready to eliminate De Beers. The disposal plan is a key however tough a part of Anglo’s restructuring because it rejected a £39bn takeover bid from BHP, and can rely on good relations with Botswana’s authorities.
Botswana owns a 15 per cent stake in De Beers, which sources stones from the nation by means of a three way partnership with the federal government, Debswana. In its election manifesto, the UDC pledged to double the speed of financial development inside 5 years, set up a brand new sovereign wealth fund for Botswana and develop exports exterior diamonds.
The ruling BDP, which gained energy within the first post-independence elections in 1966, has turn into extra fractious lately, significantly after Masisi was elected in 2018.
Ian Khama, son of the nation’s first president, had a bitter falling out with Masisi and is supporting the breakaway Botswana Patriotic Entrance.
The BDP is the newest dominant political occasion to wobble lately. In Mozambique, the ruling Frelimo liberation occasion resorted to widespread irregularities to make sure victory towards resurgent opposition chief Venâncio Mondlane.
And in South Africa, the African Nationwide Congress, which has monopolised energy since free elections in 1994, slumped to 40 per cent of the vote within the Could polls, forcing it to type a coalition with its ideological rival, the Democratic Alliance.
“It appears there’s some form of contagion,” Fabricius stated. “In lots of of those nations, there’s an financial malaise, which has led to a deterioration within the high quality of life, which the youthful populations will not be accepting. Every nation is giving braveness to the others.”
