Botswana’s diamond wealth transformed the country into an upper-middle-income economy, but the benefits have not been widely shared, with poverty, inequality and unemployment remaining stubbornly high, the World Bank says.
In its first Botswana Economic Update, the lender said about 21.4 percent of the population lives below the international poverty line of US$3 a day, while 63.2 percent survive on less than US$8.30 a day, the benchmark for upper-middle-income countries.
Botswana made rapid progress in reducing poverty during the 2000s, with the national poverty rate falling from 30.6 percent in 2003 to 19.3 percent in 2009. Progress has since slowed, reaching 16.1 percent in 2016. Rural poverty remains significantly higher at 26.8 percent, compared with 10 percent in urban areas.
The World Bank also highlighted Botswana’s persistent inequality. With a Gini coefficient of 53.3, the country ranks among the world’s most unequal, behind only South Africa and Namibia among comparable economies.
Despite spending an average 8.1 percent of GDP on education between 2018 and 2023 more than double the average for upper-middle-income countries learning outcomes remain weak. A child expected to complete 8.4 years of schooling receives learning equivalent to just 5.3 years after adjusting for education quality.
Employment outcomes are equally concerning. Only 17 percent of graduates from technical and vocational institutions had secured jobs in the latest tracer study, while graduate unemployment stood at 18.5 percent in 2022.
Preliminary survey data places overall unemployment at 21 percent, with more than 40 percent of people aged 15 to 35 outside employment, education or training.
The World Bank warned that even with economic growth projected at 3.2 percent this year, about 513,000 people are expected to remain below the US$3-a-day poverty line, underscoring the need for more inclusive growth.