writes DOUGLAS RASBASH
Africa-Press – Botswana. If we fail to rationalise now, economic reality will soon do it for us — and with far more disruption than if we acted by design.
Long seen as a model of political stability and prudent governance, Botswana now stands on the edge of a quiet but dangerous economic reckoning. For decades, diamond revenues and fiscal discipline masked inefficiencies in the public sector. But that fiscal comfort zone is narrowing – diamond earnings are declining while economic diversification is slow.
And the cost of government — vast, fragmented, and increasingly unfit for purpose — is becoming a structural liability. Furthermore, a raft of austerity measures is being considered by the Ministry of Finance, public sector salaries are under threat, and unease by many ministers about the obstructionism of some permanent secretaries has been raised to the President.
The uncomfortable truth is this: Botswana’s government is too big for its economy, too fragmented for its future and too reactionary for the changes that are needed to take this country forward. If we fail to rationalise now, economic reality will soon do it for us — and with far more disruption than if we acted by design.
This item looks critically at the performance of the public sector and proposes that the Second Republic has a one-off opportunity to make radical changes.
A Government Built for the Past
Botswana currently maintains 18 ministries and dozens of departments and agencies (MDAs) — all to serve a population of just 2.7 million people. This administrative sprawl may have evolved incrementally, shaped by political expedience and siloed mandates, but it now presents a major obstacle to both service delivery and fiscal sustainability.
Botswana has over 155,000 public sector employees — one for every 15 citizens. The public sector wage bill consumes more than 40% of the national recurrent budget. Botswana ranks highest in Africa, with approximately 5,740 public servants per 100,000 people — well above peers like Nigeria, Morocco and South Africa.
This might have been manageable during the diamond boom years but those days are passing. Botswana’s economic structure is under pressure from climate shocks, global commodity shifts, regional competition, and a changing labour market. We are no longer the shining exception but are now exposed, and our administrative overgrowth is costing us agility, coherence and money that we don’t have.
The Diamond Cushion Is Thinning
In 2022, Botswana’s total government spending reached P55 billion — over $5.3 billion USD. Yet over 60% of national revenue still depends on volatile mineral exports and SACU receipts. The warning signs are everywhere:
De Beers, once the engine of the Botswana model, is reporting softer global demand.
The rise of lab-grown diamonds threatens traditional value chains.
Botswana’s non-mineral revenues have failed to scale up fast enough to plug the gap.
Add to this a growing debt profile, rising youth unemployment (over 45% for 15–24-year-olds), and persistent underperformance in national development plan delivery — and the question becomes urgent: can Botswana afford this kind of government any more?
Fragmentation Hurts Delivery
Beyond cost, the real damage of an oversized government lies in fragmentation and inefficiency. Youth unemployment is addressed by the Ministry of Youth and Gender Affairs, the Ministry of Child Welfare and Basic Education, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Labour, and the Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship — often in parallel, rarely in unison.
Water management touches Agriculture, Environment, Local Government, and Infrastructure — yet decisions stall for months while agencies “consult.” Exporting agro-processed food requires coordination between Agriculture, Trade, Finance, and Lands.
It is remarkable that projects like the Phikwe Citrus initiative navigated the maze of bureaucratic confusion. This fragmentation costs real money, real time, and real opportunities. It undermines investment, delays services, and frustrates both citizens and civil servants. When institutions don’t talk, citizens fall through the cracks.
The Benchmark: We Are Outliers
Let’s compare Botswana to other nations of similar size. Albania, with 2.8 million people and a GDP of $17.5 billion, employs 180,000 in the public sector — similar to Botswana — but runs with far fewer ministries and more integrated functions. In the United States, the public sector represents just 7% of the population — same as Botswana — but the GDP per public servant is $1 million. In Botswana, it’s $116,000. This is not a scale issue. It’s a structure issue.
Reform Is No Longer Optional
Botswana’s current architecture may have been built on stability, but stability without sustainability becomes a liability. It is no longer a question of whether to rationalise. The real question is whether we do it strategically, through design — or chaotically, through collapse.
Proposed Structure: Five Departments of State
The proposed rationalisation of Botswana’s government centres on the creation of five powerful and integrated “Departments of State.” Each department groups together ministries and functions that naturally align, unlocking operational synergies and reducing fragmentation in governance.
This restructuring is not arbitrary but is data-informed and strategically designed to maximise service coherence, reduce duplication, and improve citizen outcomes.
Human Development & Social Equity brings together all sectors that shape people’s well-being and future opportunities: education, health, labour, youth, gender, social protection, and cultural development. By integrating these services, government can respond more holistically to challenges like poverty, inequality, and skills mismatch.
Economic Transformation & Innovation houses the core engines of growth: finance, trade, tourism, agriculture, land use, science and technology, and minerals. This clustering would enable Botswana to coordinate economic policy with land use, investment, and innovation policy under one roof—essential for achieving diversification and competitiveness.
Economic Infrastructure & Enablers combines the vital systems – transport, energy, ICT, water, and infrastructure – that connect the economy and society. This department would enable smarter planning and integrated delivery of national infrastructure and digital transformation.
Security, Diplomacy & Regional Cooperation integrates Botswana’s external engagement and national safety systems. Bringing together defence, immigration, foreign affairs, intelligence, and disaster risk management under one strategic centre would ensure faster response, better coordination, and alignment with regional stability goals.
Governance, Justice & Public Service focuses on the state’s institutional backbone: justice, traditional leadership, local government, environmental management, and national planning. This department would ensure that government remains transparent, lawful and strategically focused.
This design is not about consolidation for its own sake – it is about building a leaner, smarter state capable of delivering 21st-century development for all Batswana.
Restructuring Botswana’s 18 ministries into 5 integrated Departments of State would yield direct annual savings of P355 million, including:
P280 million from executive and corporate overhead reductions
P75 million from vehicles, office space, travel, and ICT consolidation
Improved planning and coordination would increase development budget efficiency by 25%, delivering an additional P7 billion per year. Gains from enhanced revenue absorption and project implementation are estimated at P200 million annually. The total annual benefit: P7.48 billion. Over 10 years, reinvesting these gains at a modest 5% return would yield a cumulative fiscal impact of P101.6 billion.
What Would Rationalisation Achieve?
Cost Savings: Lower overheads from fewer ministries, shared services, and trimmed executive layers.
Faster Decisions: Integrated departments can resolve issues internally.
Clearer Accountability: Each Department of State would be linked to clear national goals.
Modern Service Delivery: Simpler structures enable e-government and digital transformation.
Better Policy Coherence: National priorities like climate resilience and youth employment require cross-sector alignment.
Political Will vs Economic Pressure
The productivity impact of civil service rationalisation would increase $116,667 to $131,064 per official — a 12% increase in administrative productivity. But is this enough to influence decision makers? Botswana has changed governments for the first time in 58 years. This is a rare window to do what has long been necessary but politically difficult.
Change brings discomfort. It means pushing against the habits of a conservative civil service and letting go of ministerial fiefdoms. Moreover concentration brings with it institutional capacity advantages. But the cost of inaction will be far greater. A slow, expensive, fragmented government will frustrate citizens, undermine reforms, and deplete national resources.
Botswana is not too small to have an efficient government. It is too small to afford an inefficient one. Every pula wasted on duplicated bureaucracy is a pula not spent on clinics, classrooms, water systems, or innovation. The uncomfortable truth is this: Botswana’s government is too big for its economy and too fragmented for its future.
If we fail to rationalise now, economic reality will soon do it for us — and with far more disruption than if we acted by design. This is not austerity. This is smart growth. A government that is agile, focused, and responsive. One that aligns its structure with its strategy. A state fit for the challenges ahead. The time to act is now.
Incidentally, this article builds on two prior contributions by this author published:
“Rationalising Government: Too Many Heads, Too Little Delivery”.
“Towards Integrated Governance: Reforming Ministries for the 21st Century”.
Both articles provided the conceptual groundwork for the current analysis and proposed structure of the five Departments of State.
Source: Botswana Gazette
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