Yes It's Possible: How Botswana Became One of Africa's Wealthiest Nations

Botswana’s success is closely linked to its strong, free political and economic institutions, which have made the Sub-Saharan country the most prosperous nation of the region.

by Luis Pablo de la Horra
October 7, 2018

When discussing the dramatic increase in living standards of the last decades, we usually forget to mention that this increase hasn’t been uniform. Whereas Asia has experienced tremendous economic growth, Africa is the continent that has benefited the least from global capitalism. This doesn't mean that living standards in Africa haven't increased at all. Since 1990, extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan countries has been considerably reduced and life expectancy has gone up by more than 10 years.

In comparative terms, however, Africa has lagged behind in human and economic development. As pointed out by Johan Norberg in his wonderful book Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future, between 1981 and 2000, while the economy of East Asia doubled in size, the African economy remained flat.

Despite Africa's general economic underdevelopment, some countries have attained relatively-high levels of economic growth and prosperity. Botswana is one of the…