Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi conceded defeat following general elections Wednesday, ending nearly six decades of rule by the Botswana Democratic Party, or BPD. Partial results indicated that the main opposition party, Umbrella for Democratic Change, or UDC, was on track to win a majority of seats in Parliament, which elects Botswana’s president. (AP)
Our Take
The BDP has governed Botswana since the country gained independence from the U.K. in 1966, in large part because it had gained a reputation for good governance. For many decades, Botswana was held up as a counterexample to the “resource curse,” with the country utilizing its massive diamond exports for consistently strong development, while maintaining its democratic credentials.
But there were already concerns about the strength of that reputation heading into this vote. A global decline in demand for diamonds has hit Botswana’s economy hard, and unemployment is on the rise, reaching nearly 28 percent overall and 38 percent among young people. That speaks to how resource-based development, even when relatively well-managed, can be a double-edged sword, leaving countries that depend on it at the mercy of the inevitable busts of the commodities cycle.