Doing business in Botswana
About Botswana
With a surface area of 581,730 km², Botswana is a land-locked country at the heart of Southern Africa, bordered by Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Its central location in this region makes Botswana the perfect gateway for reaching the whole of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), making it the ideal investment and trade hub.
Fast Facts:
- Population: 2,024,904 (Population and Housing Census 2011)
- Form of Government: Parliamentary Republic
- Adult Literacy Rate: 83% (World Bank)
- Official Language: English
- National Language: Setswana
- Gross Domestic Product 2016: US$ 15.6-billion
- Per capita GDP: US$ 7,018
- GDP Real Growth Rate for 2016: 4.3%
- Inflation Average Rate: 2.8%
- Currency: ISO code is BWP, One Pula = 100 Thebe
- Weights & Measures: Metric System
Why Botswana?
Botswana is stable, peaceful and transparent
- Botswana provides a peaceful and stable environment to its citizens and investors and has maintained peace since Independence in 1966;
- We have zero tolerance for corruption, and we boast a sound legal system and adhere to the rule of law;
- We have been consistently rated as the least corrupt country in Africa by Transparency International.
Botswana is committed to sound fiscal policy, economic freedom and has a steady and dramatic growth rate
- We are ranked as the world’s second most attractive investment location by New York University’s Altman’s Baseline Profitability Index (BPI);
- We have the highest sovereign credit rating, and were named the 2nd Freest Economy in Africa;
- We have one of the fastest growth rates in per capita income in the world.
Botswana opens the door to a massive market
- We provide investors with preferential access to the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) entire marketplace – over 292 million people;
- Botswana provides duty-free access to South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland;
- Botswana provides duty-free and quota-free access to the European Union (EU) market.
The quality of Botswana’s workforce is second to none in Africa
- The workforce is well educated — 82% are literate and most speak English;
- There are no labour tensions;
- Our people are peaceful and humble.
The different communities maintain harmonious relations.
The Government of Botswana wants to make your investment work for you
- We have no foreign exchange controls or restrictions on business ownership;
- Taxes are very low – 15% for manufacturing and International Finance Service Centre (ifsc) companies, 22% for other businesses and 25% for individuals;
- We allow remittance and full repatriation of profits and dividends;
- We offer duty-free import of machinery and equipment for manufacturing purposes.
Botswana is committed to continued growth
- We are consistently investing in new and improved core infrastructure such as power plants, fibre-optic networks, roads, railways and international banking institutions;
- We are establishing ourselves as a centre for innovation and Research and Development (R&D) via the Botswana Innovation Hub.
Botswana’s International Rankings:
- Botswana’s competitiveness rises for the 2nd consecutive year to 64th (138),4th most competitive economy in Africa. With strong macroeconomic environment in 2016/17, WEF-GCR
- Botswana is the 3rd most profitable country in the world (BPI 2015), US Foreign Policy Magazine
- Africa’s second most free economy ranks 28 out of 180 in the world in 2017 with regulatory frameworks that encourages growth, Heritage Foundation in partnership with Wall Street
- Botswana is Africa’s second most peaceful country ranks 28 out of 163 in 2016, Institute for Economics & Peace
- Botswana is the least corrupt country in Africa ranks 35 out of 176 in the world in 2017, Transparency International
Do you need more reasons to do business or invest in Botswana?
Download the Botswana Investors Handbook 2017
Contains all the information you will need to make an informed decision, plus investment opportunities in key sectors of the economy.
Botswana aims to work with you to enable a good business environment that meets your needs as you GO further with your investment. Contact Botswana Investment & Trade Centre (BITC) and take advantage of Botswana’s enabling business environment.