Botswana: Diamond Success Story

Botswana, landlocked in southern Africa, transformed from one of the world's poorest countries at independence to an upper-middle-income nation through prudent management of diamond wealth, stable democracy, and wildlife conservation.

The Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of the world's largest inland deltas, supporting incredible wildlife including elephants, lions, and hippos. Chobe National Park has one of Africa's largest elephant concentrations. Botswana emphasizes low-volume, high-value tourism to preserve wilderness.

Diamond mining drives Botswana's economy, with the country being one of the world's largest diamond producers. Unlike many resource-rich nations, Botswana avoided the "resource curse" through good governance and transparency. The country has maintained multi-party democracy since independence in 1966. The Kalahari Desert covers much of Botswana, home to San people (Bushmen) with ancient hunter-gatherer traditions.