Diamond downturn tests Botswana’s economic model

For more than half a century, diamonds financed Botswana’s state and, by extension, much of the economy. As the global market turns, the country is confronting how exposed it remains, not only to commodity cycles but to a growth model anchored in public spending. Botswana’s post-independence story has long been written in diamonds and the state.

Mineral exports supplied foreign currency, while government expenditure drove jobs, services and demand. After a prolonged slump in global diamond markets, policymakers now warn the model is no longer sustainable.