Botswana at 60 challenges the story of postcolonial African failure

This week, Botswana is marking 60 years of independence from Britain with Diamond Jubilee celebrations across the country. The anniversary underscores the scale of the country’s transformation. In 1966, the former Bechuanaland Protectorate was among the world’s poorest countries, with barely 12 kilometres of paved road, just 22 university graduates and about 100 secondary-school graduates. Six decades later, Botswana is an upper-middle-income country with one of postcolonial Africa’s most striking development records. Between 1965 and 1980, Botswana’s economy grew by an average of 13.9 percent a year.