Mr Duma Boko,
President Elect of Botswana
The voters in Botswana delivered a shock victory to President Duma Boko’s party overthrowing Ex-President Masisi’s BDP party after close to 6 decades of rule. Mr Boko is taking office at a time when the Botswana economy needs a much required boost to address unemployment, education and health issues. Facing a downturn in the International Diamond market it will be interesting to see the strategy behind safeguarding the most important commodity which are Diamonds. The downturn in the diamond market caused economic growth to plummet by 1% as unemployment rose to close to 28%. As Mr Boko put it, “ We are an economy that depends on Diamonds and we have to try and safeguard this precious commodity in the short to mid term at the very least”.
The outcome of Botswana elections might set a precedent for change in southern African economies.
