15 October 2025
Botswana lawmakers on Monday began debating a 388 billion-pula ($27 billion) plan to diversify the economy and reduce its dependence on diamond mining.
The Ministry for State President tabled the draft 12th National Development Plan at a sitting of parliament to consider the spending proposals. Botswana bases its annual budgets on the plans, which run for five years and outline economic priorities and projects to be implemented.
“It is both a guide for development and a statement of our collective determination to transform Botswana,” Moeti Mohwasa, the minister for state president, said when tabling the draft.
Botswana’s economy shrank 3% in 2024 and is expected to contract again this year because of a prolonged downturn in the diamond industry, which accounts for a third of government revenue and the bulk of the nation’s foreign-currency receipts.
President Duma Boko, who swept to power last October, has made economic diversification a priority, with the fiscal crunch forcing his administration to declare a public health emergency and delay payments to suppliers earlier this year.
In addition to the government’s own resources, funding for the proposed plan will come from public private partnerships, community public partnerships, donor funding and an investor partnership programme, according to the draft.
Projects valued at 287.3 billion pula in the plan will be new, while the balance will comprise the continuation of projects initiated in prior years.
Botswana’s Finance Ministry recently held an investor forum in which it showcased several multibillion-pula projects to asset managers, pension funds and development finance institutes. Some of the projects from the event are featured in the draft development plan.
According to the plan, the bulk of the proposed funding will go to transport and infrastructure projects, followed by water and human settlements.
Lawmakers will debate the draft until November 7 and if passed, the plan will determine the size of each annual budget until the 2029-30 financial year.
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