Gross domestic product is likely to have shrunk about 6% this year after Debswana Diamond Co. — the world’s largest producer of diamonds by value — suspended its work at its mines for almost three months, he said. But with a full year of diamond output next year, and coming off a low base, the economy is likely to grow 10% to 11% next year, he said.
Mr. Jefferis, now managing director of Gaborone-based consultancy Econsult Botswana, said years of benefiting from diamond revenue as equal owner of Debswana with Anglo American PLC-controlled De Beers SA has left the government unable to prioritize spending.
Citing government spending on populist projects such as schools and paved roads in remote, low-populated areas of the country, he said: "We’ve lost the art of saying no. The economy needs to become less dependent on government."
Mr. Jefferis estimated the government employs about 40% of the formally employed labor force in
"There is a period of risk. The danger is that you don’t take those hard decisions and you run down your savings and you incur debt–in five years’ time you become a basket case," he said.
Source: Africa World News