Category: Sunday Standard

Behind the clean white coats of Botswana’s public service hospitals lies a little-known deal in which Cuban doctors who are keeping the country’s overstretched healthcare system afloat, are allegedly trapped in a lucrative network of state -sponsored ‘modern day slavery.’

Under the confidential bilateral agreement, obtained by the Sunday Standard, the Cuban government takes control of the doctors’ wages, with one international watchdog alleging that as much as 75% of their true earnings is siphoned off by the Cuban state.

While Botswana pays about P56,000 per every specialist every month, sources cited by international watchdog Prisoners Defenders say the Cuban professionals receive about P14,000. The watchdog has denounced the arrangement between the governments of Botswana and Cuba as ‘modern day slave trade.’

The confidential 21-page Memorandum of Agreement between the Government of Botswana and the Government of Cuba, represented respectively by the two countries’ Ministries of Health, provides the contractual framework for the deployment of Cuban specialized health professionals to Botswana. The then Minister of Health Edwin Dikoloti signed on behalf of Botswana on 22 August 2024 while Cuba’s ambassador to Botswana Orlando Alvarez signed on behalf of his country.

The document betrays Botswana’s human rights paradox. While the country is trying to plug critical staffing shortages in its public health system, the structure of the bilateral deal means the country is knowingly financing and institutionalizing an exploitative system that violates Botswana’s own constitutional prohibitions against forced labour.

The document says Botswana has an ‘acute shortage’ of specialized health professionals and records the two governments’ agreement to continue their cooperation in supplying such personnel.

Under Article 10, Botswana agrees to pay the Cuban government not more than pound 2,469,600 per annum, inclusive of withholding tax, for the provision of the services. The agreement further provides that Cuba will issue a monthly invoice to Botswana showing both the amount to be paid to Cuban health professionals in Botswana and the amount to be transferred to Cuba. The agreement places responsibility for paying the Cuban health professionals on the Government of Cuba rather than directly on the Government of Botswana.

The document states that payment to the professionals ‘shall be the responsibility’ of the Cuban government. It identifies an account in Botswana under the name ‘CUBAN MEDICAL TEAM IN BOTSWANA ‘for payments to the health professionals while the balance due to Cuba is to be transferred to a Cuban bank account in Havana.

That arrangement creates a fundamental question: how much of the money paid by Botswana actually reaches the doctors and other Cuban professionals working in Botswana, and how much is retained or transferred to the Cuban state?

The agreement itself does not answer that question. What it does reveal is the official rate attached to the personnel. Appendix B lists pound 3,500 per month for specialist physicians, including the coordinator while allied professionals, including pharmacists and biomedical engineers, are listed at pound 2,800 per month.

The financial architecture therefore places Botswana on one side of the transaction, the Cuban government on the other, and the individual medical professionals within a system in which their remuneration is administered by Cuba.

It is this structure that fuel claims that Botswana is effectively financing a system in which Cuban doctors do not directly control the full value generated by their work.

However, the agreement itself does not establish that Cuban doctors are victims of slavery nor does it disclose what proportion of their remuneration Cuba retains. The agreement nevertheless gives Cuba substantial control over the personnel arrangement.

Botswana selects personnel from a pool provided by Cuba, while Cuba undertakes to provide specialized professionals and ensure that they possess the required training and experience. The professionals normally serve for two years with the possibility of extending their assignments by another two years.

Botswana, meanwhile, assumes a wide range of costs. These include economy-class air travel between Cuba and Botswana, repatriation costs in the event of death, accommodation and certain household costs. Botswana must also provide housing and basic furniture, while covering security or alarm-system costs and up to P1,900 per household per month for basic amenities.

The agreement also gives Botswana the right to request the replacement of a Cuban professional deemed not to be performing duties satisfactorily or who has committed an act of indiscipline.

At the same time, Cuba undertakes to ensure that participation by the selected health professionals is voluntary. The document expressly states that the selected Cuban professionals must have ‘voluntarily expressed’ their intention to participate in the arrangement.

The agreement was signed in Gaborone in 2024 and provides for an initial five-year term, renewable for subsequent five-year periods unless terminated earlier. Article 8 requires both governments to keep confidential information received from the other party during implementation of the agreement and prohibits disclosure without prior written approval, subject to exceptions including court orders, applicable laws and international obligations. The secrecy provision is likely to intensify demands for transparency over the financial relationship. The agreement covers a broad range of specialties, including surgery, pediatrics, nephrology, neonatology, neurosurgery, emergency and intensive care, obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology, oncology and gastroenterology.

Commenting on the confidential document, international watchdog, Prisoners Defenders said; ‘the current Duma Boko government materially and knowingly supports the economic architecture that allows for a modern slavery scheme.’

‘ Princess Marina Hospital’s official administrative documents record stipends, such as the one dated March 9, 2020 and later, of up to $800 for 18 specialist or coordination positions and which are forwarded to financial administration with a copy to the government’s Ministry of Finance; The State’s connivance cannot therefore be attributed to a lack of knowledge of the payment mechanism, ‘the organisation argues.

It says ‘The gross contractual fee paid by Botswana, under the Agreement, amounts to $4,094.65 per month per specialist. However, direct sources from Prisoners Defenders confirm that Cuban professionals receive only $1,000 a month: 24.42% of the fee paid for their work. The gross difference is 75.58%.’

Prisoners Defenders notes that ‘In August 2026, several direct first-hand sources in the country placed the current salary of Cuban medical specialists at $1,000 per month, presenting a slight increase.’

It says ‘Although this is a nominal improvement of $200 compared to 2020, the price paid by Botswana for each doctor has also risen markedly and has reached the equivalent of $4,094.65 per month. so the structure of extracting wages from Cuban workers for the benefit of the regime has even been aggravated.’

‘The Cuban specialist, receiving only $1,000 a month, receives less than a quarter of what Botswana pays Cuba for his work and only 20 to 23 percent of the documented remuneration for a local specialist, ‘says Prisoners Defenders.

Responding to Sunday Standard queries, The Ministry of Health spokesperson Malepa Dibonwa said; ‘The Government Of Botswana pays an agreed fee for the services rendered by the specialists to the Government of Cuba. Cuban specialists remain employees of the Government of Cuba.’ He added that; ‘Accordingly, the remuneration arrangement between the Government Of Cuba and its personnel are matters governed by the arrangement applicable to the Cuban health professionals and the Government Of Cuba. .Government Of Botswana does not determine or negotiate the individual remuneration payable by the Government of Cuba and its personnel.’

According to Prisoners Defenders, the alleged financial exploitation of the Cuban doctors is only the first layer of the system. According to a recent exposé by Prisoners Defenders, the bilateral contract is sustained by an aggressive legal framework of surveillance and severe civil restrictions engineered directly by the Cuban Medical Mission leadership in Gaborone.

The human rights watchdog revealed that on 3rd July 2026, Mission Head Dr. Pablo Ricardo Betancourt Álvarez issued an official Resolution mandating nine restrictive control measures explicitly designed to prevent Cuban doctors from integrating into Botswana society or attempting to escape the program.

· The Curfew and Isolation: Under the mandate, specialists face strict, mandatory nightly curfews. They are completely prohibited from staying overnight anywhere outside their designated official residences. Furthermore, they are banned from visiting or socializing with any Cuban nationals residing in Botswana who are not part of the active Brigade.

· Asset and Travel Bans: To eliminate any possibility of unauthorized long-distance transit or local independence, the resolution strictly prohibits the medical professionals from purchasing or driving private vehicles. Their movement is tightly boundaried, with a blanket ban on traveling outside their specifically assigned working districts without explicit, written permission from mission handlers.

· Passport Seizure and Digital Surveillance: Testimonies collected from the ground reveal that a staggering 84% of doctors report being subjected to continuous surveillance. Central to this control is the immediate seizure of their passports upon arrival. By physically withholding their official travel documents, handlers leave the doctors legally trapped inside Botswana’s borders, unable to apply for local asylum, leave through Sir Seretse Khama International Airport, or return home voluntarily.

The report by Prisoners Defenders says the testimonies of professionals stationed in Botswana reproduce the pattern of slavery documented in all Cuban medical missions:

All stated that they did not voluntarily participate in the mission.

None received a copy of their contract; In 60% of the cases there was a contract, but it was never delivered, and for the rest no contract was even formalized.

All of them suffered the withdrawal of their passports by the Cuban authorities, restrictions on movement and control of relations with the local population.

Prisoners Defenders requested that the government of President Duma Boko should include among others;

The publication of the complete agreement, all its addenda, budgetary authorizations, monthly invoices and payments executed, protecting only legitimate personal data.

The direct payment to each Cuban professional for the full amount that corresponds to their work, subject only to ordinary and transparent taxes, prohibiting forced salary transfers to third parties.

Interview all aid workers individually, without the presence of Cuban coordinators, with interpreters and independent legal assistance.

Ensure that each worker retains his or her passport, contract, credentials, freedom of movement, accommodation, association, communication, and the right to complete the mission without retaliation. Immediate comment from the Cuban embassy was not available. Claims by Prisoners Defenders have been backed by independent sources. The 2025 US Trafficking in Persons Report specifically warned that the Cuban regime ‘may have forced approximately 80 Cuban regime-affiliated medical professionals in Botswana to work’ and recommended that Botswana systematically screen Cuban medical workers for trafficking indicators. That warning did not emerge in isolation. Previous US trafficking reports have repeatedly identified Cuban medical personnel in Botswana as a potentially vulnerable group. The 2024 report recommended that Botswana proactively identify trafficking victims among Cuban government-affiliated medical professionals.

The government has distanced itself from the delays over payment of outstanding (Ex-gratia/ Soft landing) benefits owed to former BCL and Tati Nickel Mine Workers. Last week Wednesday the Minister of State President Moeti Mohwasa and the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Pius Mokgware met with the former mine workers at Civic Centre in Francistown to update them on their outstanding benefits and the prolonged liquidation process.

Located near Francistown, Tati Nickel Mining Company was liquidated in 2016 owing to a slump in commodity prices resulting in the loss of over 6000 alongside its parent company BCL Limited.

First to take to the podium during the meeting was Minister Mohwasa who told the former mining workers that the independent liquidator has full control and legal mandate over the liquidation proceedings adding that their hands are currently tied to interfere.

‘Up until the liquidation process is finalized, there is nothing that the government can do. At some point we tried to engage the liquidator on some of the issues, but he then released a report suggesting that there was political interference Government is committed to seeing your benefits being paid and we understand the hardships that you are going through. Government will ensure that you are paid your benefits once the liquidation process is completed,’ he said.

Mohwasa expressed his frustration over how the BCL and Tati Nickel Mining Company was closed under the past regime leading to the the adversaries that the former mine employees are going through.

On the other hand the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Mokgware assured the clearly frustrated former mining employees that a new law on liquidation giving priorities to employees will begin in September 2026.

‘The new law will give priorities to employees during future liquidations above creditors unlike in the past. We fully understand what you are going through and we are committed to ensuring that you are paid your dues,’ he reiterated.

The former mine employees had expressed frustrations on what they deem as sluggishness on the part of government as the matter spans a decade. One of the former miners Kefilwe Gaofose accused the government of not giving the issue the urgency it deserves.

‘We are living in abject poverty. We have been given promises after promises but there is no progress. There is need for government to take this issue seriously. Some of the former mine employees are now deceased before being paid their dues,’ he said.

Another former mine employee Masego Lentetse questioned how the liquidator can have more powers than even the President of the country. He expressed uncertainty over the benefits being paid as the liquidator seems to be dragging his feet to finalize this issue which has been pending for 10 years. He also expressed worry that there is no timeline as to when they will be paid .

Botswana Miners Workers Union(BMWU) General Secretary Mbiganyi Gaekgotswe who was also present at the meeting also expressed his concerns suggesting that the government has the power to finalize this matter.

‘You are still waiting for the liquidator to wind up the whole process and this has taken too long. Our belief is that as government you have the powers to repeal provisions that give the liquidator too much powers. It has been ten years since the former mine workers lost their jobs and have been living in misery,’ he said.

However in conclusion the Ministers assured the former mine employees that government will ensure that they will be paid. They reiterated that they cannot by-pass the legal constraints they are currently facing giving hope that the new liquidation law address this challenge in the future.

Botswana’s food security is under pressure as grain farmers warn that repeated payment failures by the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) are pushing producers towards bankruptcy and threatening the sustainability of the country’s agricultural sector.

Documents seen by Sunday Standard show that Pandamatenga farmers alone are owed approximately P100 million by BAMB with some farmers reportedly waiting as long as four months beyond the contractual 30-day payment period for grain already delivered.

This emerges in an urgent letter from Pandamatenga Commercial Farmers Association (PCFA) Chairman, Carel Viljoen, who has called for immediate government intervention ahead of the September 30 deadline for farmers to settle their seasonal production loans. The letter was addressed to Chief Executive Officer of BAMB, Lilian Costa Scheepers and copied to Dr Mokganedi Mokopasetso, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture; Dr Tsokologo Alex Kganetsano, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; Omphile Sehurutse, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship; and Kenalekgotla Sebolao, Chairman of the Botswana Grain Producers Association.

Viljoen says farmers are again carrying the financial consequences of BAMB’s liquidity problems despite having fulfilled their side of the bargain by delivering grain.’Investor confidence is ZERO. Not low, ZERO. It simply does not pay to farm anymore,’ Viljoen states in the letter.

According to the farmers, the crisis is no longer simply a dispute over delayed payments. It is becoming a threat to the viability of the producers expected to supply the country with food.

‘Farmers are businesspeople, and in effect, investors in Botswana’s agricultural sector,’ Viljoen says adding that producers borrow heavily, employ workers and take substantial production and market risks to produce food for the country. The farmers say input costs are rising while grain prices continue to fall, creating a squeeze that is becoming increasingly difficult to survive.’Farmers are paying to farm, not being paid to farm,’ the letter says.

The latest crisis also threatens to repeat a pattern witnessed during the 2024/2025 production season. During that season, Pandamatenga farmers delivered more than 50,000 tonnes of sorghum, together with thousands of tonnes of cowpeas and maize. BAMB subsequently struggled for approximately eight months to secure sufficient funding to pay farmers.

The letter shows that by December 2025, commercial farmers had received only 74 percent of the money owed to them, with the remaining 26 percent only paid in April 2026. Farmers are now warning that the same cycle is unfolding again. Deliveries began in April 2026, meaning some producers have already exceeded BAMB’s contractual 30-day payment period by as much as four months.

According to Viljoen, delayed payments have left suppliers unpaid, affected salaries and seasonal workers, increased overdraft and bank charges, caused loan repayments to fall overdue and left farmers entering new production seasons without adequate cash flow. Small-scale farmers have also been affected, including their ability to meet household expenses, school fees and purchase inputs. The financial damage is significant. One Pandamatenga farmer alone has reportedly incurred approximately P3.8 million in interest attributed to BAMB’s late payments.

The situation was made worse by severe flooding in Pandamatenga at the beginning of the current production cycle. Despite significant crop and input losses, farmers replanted using borrowed funds and personal reserves, citing their commitment to Botswana’s food security.

Now, with the next planting season approaching, farmers want government to provide certainty. They are demanding confirmation that outstanding payments will be settled by September 30, while also calling for urgent consideration of partial payments to enable them to settle suppliers, service production loans and prepare for the coming season. They are also challenging the continued accumulation of interest on production loans while farmers wait for BAMB to pay them. The farmers argue that they have delivered their crops and fulfilled their contractual obligations, yet continue to incur interest because BAMB has not settled its obligations. NDB has extended the loan repayment deadline to the end of October 2026, but farmers have been advised that the interest rate will increase by one percentage point for the extension. Viljoen says the situation presents a fundamental contradiction in government’s stated objective of developing a private-sector-led, export-driven agricultural sector. The farmers are also demanding clarity on national crop planning, BAMB procurement plans, market demand and proposed rules governing access to alternative markets.

‘A sustainable national grain sector cannot operate without clarity on where farmers may sell their products and under what conditions,’ the letter states. The farmers say they have remained loyal to BAMB despite payment delays lasting more than a year in the previous season and have again delivered their grain in good faith. But they are now approaching another production cycle carrying debt and interest on grain already delivered but not yet paid for. The farmers want a written response before September 30 covering the payment solution and other outstanding grain-sector issues.

BAMB had not responded to Sunday Standard queries at time of going to press.

President Duma Boko has emerged as the founding chairman of the controversial African Hero infrastructure initiative linked to businessman Zunaid Moti.

On its website, the initiative reveals that ‘African Hero is led by H.E. President Advocate Duma Gideon Boko, President of the Republic of Botswana and Founding Chairman of African Hero – a statesman whose leadership gives the initiative its moral force, continental ambition and delivery mandate.’

The revelation has placed Boko at the centre of an arrangement that the Botswana Republican Party (BRP) says requires urgent parliamentary and public scrutiny.

African Hero’s flagship project, the Duma Boko School and Clinic in Block 7, Gaborone, was launched in September with Government providing the land while private-sector partners financed construction. Government will operate the facilities, including providing teachers, nurses and medicines. The school is expected to accommodate about 380 learners.

But the BRP says the issue is not whether Botswana needs schools, clinics or private investment; It is whether the State entered the arrangement transparently, lawfully and in a manner that protects taxpayers. In its September 2026 position paper, titled ‘The Boko-Moti-African Hero Arrangement,’ the opposition party argues that public infrastructure cannot be removed from normal scrutiny simply because construction was financed privately.

‘The building of a school is a public good. A clinic is a public good. Private investment is good. Philanthropy is good,’ the BRP says. It adds that; ‘But provision of knock-down infrastructure no matter how pretty it looks does not make an opaque governance arrangement good.’

The party says Government must publish the agreements, financing arrangements, ownership structures, land allocation documents, procurement or exemption records and any present or future financial obligations associated with African Hero.

The BRP says in June 2025, the Ministry of Finance told the Public Accounts Committee that it had received an unsolicited proposal from an investor to construct schools and clinics and lease them to Government. According to reporting from the PAC proceedings, the proposed cost was about P36.4 million per school and P9.1 million per clinic, under a 17-year lease-to-own arrangement. The Permanent Secretary, Tshokologo Kganetsano, said the financial implications were substantial and that Government was not then in a position to borrow for the project. The ministry indicated a preference for scaling down the proposal and, if necessary, open competitive bidding.

The project subsequently re-emerged under the African Hero banner. The BRP therefore asks a pointed question: what changed? The party wants the documentary trail showing how the original proposal evolved into the present arrangement. It says this is particularly sensitive because African Hero identifies Boko as its founding chairman while Moti has been publicly described as the businessman behind the initiative. Recent reporting has also linked Moti to previous financial support for the UDC’s 2019 election campaign.

The BRP stops short, in its paper, of alleging that Boko personally profited from the project. Instead, it argues that the relationship creates a potential conflict-of-interest concern requiring heightened transparency.The party also questions the decision to name the flagship school after the sitting President. At the September launch, Government described the project as a demonstration of a new public-private infrastructure model. Boko said Government did not finance construction and had instead made available land that had remained undeveloped for years. Government would subsequently provide teachers, nurses and medicines and operate the facilities.

Moti, meanwhile, described African Hero as an initiative intended to accelerate construction of schools and clinics across Africa. Government has announced an ambition for the model to deliver 100 schools and 50 clinics in Botswana. The BRP, however, says construction is only the beginning of the financial equation. A school requires teachers, electricity, water, textbooks, security, maintenance, transport and ICT infrastructure.

The party therefore wants Government to publish the full lifetime cost of the facilities.

It also raises questions about claims that the wider programme could expose Botswana to more than P20 billion in long-term obligations. The BRP stresses that the figure cannot be independently verified without access to the underlying contracts, payment schedules, guarantees and other commitments.The party wants Parliament to establish whether the arrangement is a donation, procurement contract, public-private partnership, lease, concession or another legal structure. It is calling for a special parliamentary inquiry examining the original proposal, the Finance Ministry’s 2025 assessment, the subsequent financing model, beneficial ownership, land allocation, procurement procedures, Government’s operating costs and termination arrangements. The BRP further wants an independent value-for-money assessment and conflict-of-interest review.

Its position is that private financing should not exempt a project from public scrutiny once Government land, public employees, public services or potential future State obligations become involved. ‘Build the school. Build the clinic. But publish the contract, disclose the money, explain the obligations and let Parliament do its job,’ the party says.

Botswana’s umbrella body for non-governmental organisations is demanding greater disclosure from government over the African Hero Initiative and an associated school and clinic development in Block 7, saying citizens need clarity on the project’s financing, contractual arrangements and potential public obligations.

The Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (BOCONGO) said it isn’t presenting allegations about the initiative as established wrongdoing, but questioned whether government conducted adequate financial, corporate, legal, integrity and reputational due diligence before engaging with or endorsing the project.

‘What checks were undertaken? What were their findings? Who conducted them?’ BOCONGO asked. The organisation’s intervention follows public reporting and parliamentary discussions over the history of a proposal involving the construction of schools and clinics for government.

According to BOCONGO, the Ministry of Finance had previously indicated that such a proposal was rejected because of ‘significant financial implications,’ with government reportedly saying it wasn’t in a position to borrow for the arrangement.

The initiative has since emerged as the African Hero school and clinic development associated with businessman Zunaid Moti.

BOCONGO is seeking an explanation of what changed in the proposal, financing model, contractual structure and government approval process, as well as how concerns identified earlier were addressed. ‘If this is a privately funded initiative, Government should clearly explain what that means in legal and financial terms,’ the organisation said.

It is also calling for disclosure of any public land, financing, guarantees, future government payments, leases, tax concessions or other public resources and obligations tied to the project. The organisation questioned who will finance the initiative and at what cost, who owns the land and completed facilities, and who would bear the risks if the project fails or costs increase.

BOCONGO also raised questions about reported relationships between Moti and leaders of the UDC, while stressing that such relationships ‘do not, in themselves, establish wrongdoing, improper influence or state capture.’

However, it said those relationships make transparency and due diligence more important, particularly amid reporting and allegations concerning Moti’s business activities and relationships with political and government actors outside Botswana.

The group urged government to publish the material terms of the initiative and school and clinic arrangement, explain changes from the earlier proposal, disclose public financial obligations and account for procurement, legal, financial and due-diligence processes.

‘Public accountability is not ‘social media nonsense’,’ BOCONGO said. ‘It is a democratic responsibility.’

Botswana’s cattle industry is getting smaller, even as commercial farmers expand their share of the national herd.

The country’s cattle population fell to 1.64 million in 2025, from 1.74 million a decade earlier, representing a 6.1 percent decline, according to Statistics Botswana’s 2025 Agricultural Census. The latest figures underline the pressure on a sector that remains important to Botswana’s agricultural economy.

The contraction has been accompanied by a deterioration in key livestock indicators. Cattle births declined 14.3 percent to 373,807, while deaths rose 30.7 percent to 143,076 between the two census periods.

But beneath the headline decline is a more significant structural shift. Botswana’s commercial cattle sector expanded during the decade, with the number of commercial holdings rising 12. percent and their cattle population increasing 18.8 percent, from 383,699 to 455,739.

Commercial farmers also increased their average herd size from 295 cattle per holding in 2015 to 312 in 2025. By contrast, the traditional subsector saw its cattle population fall 13.1%, while average herd size declined from 36 to 33 cattle.

The numbers point to an increasingly divided industry: commercial operators are scaling up while traditional cattle production is losing ground.

For businesses servicing the livestock industry, this shift could have implications for demand for animal health, feed, equipment, transport and other agricultural services. A smaller national herd, meanwhile, raises questions about future supply capacity.

Statistics Botswana cautions that the census does not identify the causes of the decline, noting that factors such as drought, disease, slaughter, imports and exports need to be considered when assessing movements in cattle numbers.

Africa remains the preferred destination for Batswana considering emigration, underscoring a stronger pull toward the continent than toward Europe or North America, according to an Afrobarometer survey.

Among Batswana who said they had considered emigrating, 43% preferred moving elsewhere within Africa, compared with 24% who chose Europe and 19% who preferred North America. A further 13% selected destinations outside Africa, while 1% did not provide an answer.

The findings are contained in ‘Beyond borders: Botswana | 2024 – The people’s perspective,’ based on Afrobarometer Round 10 interviews with 1,200 adult Batswana in July 2024. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

The data also shows that 36% of respondents had considered emigrating to some degree. That includes 19% who had considered it ‘a lot,’ 8% ‘somewhat’ and 9% ‘a little bit,’ while 64% said they had not considered leaving. The preference for Africa comes despite relatively strong interest in Europe and North America, suggesting that for those contemplating a move, geographic proximity remains a major factor.

Afrobarometer’s findings also point to a cautious but outward-looking attitude toward regional integration. 40% support the free cross-border movement of Southern Africans, while 31% said crossing borders is easy. Support for free trade was higher at 55%, although only 8% said they were aware of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life.

The survey describes its findings as ‘the people’s perspective,’ highlighting how ordinary Batswana view migration, regional integration and Botswana’s place in the world. The results come as economic pressures, employment opportunities and regional mobility continue to shape decisions about where Africans live and work.

Botswana and Angola are stepping up cooperation to protect the value of natural diamonds as producers face growing competition from cheaper laboratory-grown stones and weaker global demand.

The two countries, which together account for almost 30 percent of global rough diamond production by volume, have agreed to deepen collaboration in the industry, potentially giving African producers greater influence over how the global diamond market evolves.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between Botswana President Duma Boko and Angolan President João Lourenço in Luanda on 8 September. The discussions come as Botswana seeks to protect diamond revenues, expand market access and reduce its exposure to changing consumer preferences.

For producers, the threat is increasingly commercial rather than geological. Laboratory-grown diamonds can be manufactured within weeks and sold at substantially lower prices than natural stones, forcing the traditional industry to rethink how it markets and positions its product.

President Boko said Botswana was developing a ‘robust marketing campaign’ to strengthen the position of diamonds from producing countries, while Angola has backed closer cooperation to enhance the value of natural stones and protect the jobs and government revenues they generate.

The partnership also intersects with the future of De Beers, where Botswana holds a 15 percent stake and Angola has expressed interest in acquiring a shareholding. Anglo American put De Beers on the market in 2024, with the sale process advancing.

Beyond marketing, the countries are looking to strengthen producer influence over the diamond value chain and retain more economic value in Africa. For Botswana, where diamonds remain central to exports and government revenue, preserving the premium attached to natural stones has become increasingly important.

Botswana’s poaching threat is shifting from the high-profile species that dominate international conservation campaigns toward animals hunted for bushmeat, with kudu and gemsbok emerging as the country’s most frequently targeted species, according to a government report.

Botswana recorded 824 poaching incidents between 2020 and 2024, with 130 involving kudu, 90 gemsbok and 79 impala, according to data from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) contained in the Botswana Selected Environmental Indicators 2024 report.

‘The nature of poaching is changing,’ the report says, warning that ‘the poaching pressure is currently pivoting toward larger mammals and consistent bushmeat species like Kudu and Gemsbok.’

The shift broadens the challenge facing the country’s wildlife authorities. While international attention has largely focused on elephants and other species targeted for their high-value body parts, the data suggest illegal hunting is also increasingly affecting animals that can be killed for meat.

Kudu poaching incidents rose from 17 in both 2021 and 2022 to 30 in 2023 before easing to 25 last year. Gemsbok recorded 20 incidents in 2020 and 22 in 2021, with 19 reported in 2024.

The Central District was the country’s biggest poaching hotspot, recording 278 incidents during the five-year period, including 66 involving kudu and 50 involving impala. Kgalagadi recorded 72 gemsbok cases, the highest district total for the species.

The changing pattern does not mean the country’s iconic wildlife is escaping pressure. Elephant poaching climbed to a five-year high of 33 incidents in 2024, underscoring the country’s exposure to both bushmeat hunting and the illegal killing of high-value wildlife.

The report calls for ‘localised and species-specific enforcement strategies’ as poaching increasingly cuts across different categories of wildlife.

The broader mortality data offer a mixed picture. Botswana recorded 2,924 documented wildlife deaths between 2019 and 2024, although annual mortality fell from 723 deaths in 2019 to 332 in 2024, according to DWNP data.

Mortality reached a six-year low of 319 in 2023 before rising about 4% in 2024. Elephants accounted for 140 deaths in 2024, the highest total among species recorded that year. That was down from 152 in 2023 and less than half the 346 elephant deaths recorded in 2019.

The figures suggest that while overall recorded wildlife mortality has declined, Botswana’s conservation challenge is becoming more diffuse with pressure spreading beyond the species that have traditionally defined the country’s poaching crisis.

The Competition and Consumer Authority (CCA) has approved the acquisition of a 70 percent stake in Engen Botswana by Fusionspark, but ordered a company linked to businessman Ramachandran Ottapathu to exit Reddy Group before the transaction can be implemented.

The decision places a major condition on Ottapathu’s expanding interests in Botswana’s petroleum industry, with the authority identifying potential competition risks arising from the overlap between his interests in Fusionspark and Ajantha Proprietary Limited.

Fusionspark is controlled by MMPG Limited, Surya Artha Holding Limited and Ottapathu, who is also chief executive officer and co-founder of Choppies Enterprises. His other interests include Far Property Company, Ajantha and Kamoso Africa.

According to the CCA, Ajantha holds a 75 percent stake in Reddy Group, which has interests in 67 retail station sites. The authority said the combination of Ajantha’s stake in Reddy Group and Ottapathu’s 30 percent interest in Fusionspark could create an incentive to align Reddy Group’s commercial decisions with those of the merged Engen business.

The CCA raised concerns that this could result in preferential treatment of Engen-branded fuel volumes at multi-branded Reddy Group sites, potentially disadvantaging rival fuel wholesalers and unaffiliated Engen dealers.

As a result, Ajantha must divest its entire 75 percent interest in Reddy Group to Botswana citizens or citizen-owned companies, including first-time investors, before the Engen transaction is implemented.

The CCA has also prohibited Ajantha from being directly or indirectly associated with Reddy Group for three years following implementation of the transaction.

Fusionspark’s acquisition will give it control of Engen Botswana, which has an estimated 15.9 percent share of Botswana’s fuel wholesale and retail market. Acer Petroleum Botswana has an estimated 0.2 percent share, taking the combined entity to about 16.1 percent.

The CCA has also required the merged entity to protect independent Engen dealers and citizen employees and competitively appoint at least five citizen-owned transporters within 12 months.