Africa-Press – Botswana. The latest Rand Merchant Bank ‘Where to Invest in Africa’ report has ranked Botswana the continent’s fifth-best address for investment, Business Monitor has learnt.
The key report is used by global investors as part of their decisions on where to put money on the African continent.
In the latest report, Botswana came behind Egypt in first place, Morocco, South Africa and Rwanda.
RMB researchers noted that Botswana’s high foreign-exchange reserves had enabled it to weather the pandemic-induced economic storm better than most.
“Following an 8.5 percent contraction in 2020, Botswana’s economy is on a path of recovery, with growth slated for 6.7 percent in 2021,” the researchers said. “While the primary sector – diamond-mining in particular – is the main catalyst for this year’s growth, concerted efforts have been undertaken by both the private and public sector to ensure that the effects of the pandemic are minimised moving forward.” RMB Africa economist Daniel Kavishe said due to the impact of COVID-19, this year’s report assesses the extent of the pandemic’s impact by sketching the landscape of the continent pre-COVID-19, and then painting a picture of both its actual and potential outcomes through and post-pandemic. Where previous editions positively projected Africa’s prospects discerned through reliable and readily available data, COVID-19 has muddied the analytical waters and compelled the team to adapt its methodology. “We created a new set of rankings that incorporated some of the unavoidable COVID-19-induced challenges, of which the operating environment score was one,” Kavishe said. Rwanda and Botswana moved up the rankings due to their operating environments, the researchers said. The report also notes that to ensure the delivery of the Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan (ERTP), the government has secured funding from the World Bank and the AfDB to the tune of $250m and $137m respectively. These funds will be directed towards attracting private-sector investments, contributing to the diversification of Botswana’s exports, and creating job opportunities for a green economy. The ERTP also seeks to finance and fast-track key infrastructural projects across the country to support growth in the local construction industry. “To ensure that plans to promote local production are successful, however, Botswana will have to address its implementation challenges,” RMB researchers stated.
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