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92. Trade Facilitation and Export Diversification in Botswana Part I: Customs and Border Procedures
- Author:
- Margaret Sengwaketse
- Publication Date:
- 04-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- This policy brief focuses on customs and border procedures in Botswana and their role on export diversification initiatives. Customs is at the centre of trade facilitation because it is where the majority of administrative and procedural requirements involved in the movement of goods are and where the highest potential gains in trade facilitation are to be found. The policy brief is based on the findings of the 2005 BIDPA and World Bank study entitled "Diversifying Botswana's Exports: An Overview."
- Topic:
- Economy, Borders, Diversification, Exports, Trade, and Customs
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
93. Trade Facilitation and Export Diversification in Botswana Part II: Transport
- Author:
- Margaret Sengwaketse
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- This brief reviews the contribution that transportation makes to trade facilitation in Botswana. As a landlocked, export-driven economy, efficient transport and transit procedures are important to support competitiveness and export growth. Transport costs are particularly important to landlocked countries, where the additional distances to be covered can increase product prices, undermine the competitiveness of exports, and generally make it more difficult to compete in international markets. The policy brief draws from the findings of the 2005 BIDPA and World Bank study entitled "Diversifying Botswana's Exports: An Overview," as well as other relevant studies.
- Topic:
- Markets, Diversification, Trade, Transportation, and Customs
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
94. Institutions and Economic Performance in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Mauritius
- Author:
- Julius Kiiza
- Publication Date:
- 07-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- This paper examines the relationship between institution building and economic performance in Mauritius, Botswana and Uganda. The rationale for comparing these cases is simple. While the three have been super-economic stars in their own right, they have achieved substantially different outcomes. Mauritius has achieved Asia-type rapid growth, backed by the structural transformation of the economy from colonial commodity production (sugar) to postcolonial higher value-added industrial and information outcomes. Botswana has delivered rapid and sustained growth with no structural economic transformation. Uganda has attained rapid growth for a shorter postcolonial period (since 1992) and with no structural transformation. This paper contends that these cross-national differences largely arise from the presence of developmental nationalism plus Weberian bureaucracies in Mauritius and Botswana, and their absence in Uganda.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and Nationalism
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, Africa, Mauritius, and Botswana
95. Export Diversification: Is it Really Necessary for Botswana?
- Author:
- Joel Sentsho
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- Even though Botswana gained independence as a very poor country in 1966, over the last three decades the country has risen to the level of a middle income developing country. The country’s GDP growth averaged about 9 percent over the fi rst three decades of independence and was thus comparable to that of the East Asian Tigers. Perhaps the only disadvantage with this impressive growth is that it was and continues to be fuelled by the primary sector, particularly diamond mining, although copper/nickel and beef were also important in the earlier years. As early as 1982, the Government of Botswana recognized that dependence on a narrow range of exports was undesirable and could have adverse long-term consequences, and that export diversifi cation was necessary. However, despite numerous policies aimed at achieving export diversifi cation, it appears that there has not been much success, and while sustained high rates of economic growth have been achieved this has remained dependent upon the primary export sector, mainly diamonds. This raises fundamental questions: Is export diversification really necessary for Botswana? Could Botswana not continue into the future and achieve the ideals of Vision 2016 through continued primary export growth? These questions will form the focus of this policy brief. The main objective of this Policy Brief is to explore the reasons why Botswana continues to pursue the export diversifi cation strategy in spite of its limited success over the years. The Policy Brief is based on the BIDPA-World Bank study entitled “Diversifying Botswana’s Exports: An Overview”, fi nalized in July 2005, which argues strongly that export diversifi cation still needs to be pursued by Botswana. This policy brief will summarise the reasons advanced by the study for the pursuit of export diversification and make recommendations on the way forward.
- Topic:
- Development, Economy, Diversification, and Exports
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
96. Abundant Resource Endowment: A Basis for Successful Economic Diversifi cation
- Author:
- Joel Sentsho
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- It is widely accepted that achieving sustainable economic growth and development for resource-based economies must be based on economic diversifi cation. An economy is said to be diversifi ed if it has reached a level of industrial and economic development in which “no sector of the economy may be singled out as a major engine of economic growth.” For many resource-based economies, such as those based on minerals or agriculture, this economic diversifi cation appears to have been elusive, prompting some analysts of resource-based development to argue that resource-based economies are hard to industrialize and diversify. This policy brief agues this the “resource curse”, although widespread, is not inevitable, because abundant resource endowment also provides advantages that can enhance the potential for economic diversifi cation when appropriate policy choices are made. This policy brief discusses the reasons for pessimism in resource-based economic development, resulting in failure to achieve economic diversifi cation and sustainable economic growth. It then looks at why resource abundance can support successful economic diversifi cation. Finally, the policy brief outlines the policies that result from the two scenarios and concludes that there is reason for successful economic diversifi cation in resource-based economies provided appropriate policies are chosen and implemented.
- Topic:
- Economics, Economic Growth, Diversification, and Resource Management
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
97. Botswana’s Enabling Environment for Economic Diversification: Plugging the Holes
- Author:
- Victoria Ndzinge-Anderson
- Publication Date:
- 12-2006
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
- Abstract:
- It is widely recognized that economies endowed with natural resources and highly dependent on one or two primary commodities for exports are susceptible to exogenous shocks that can lead to fl uctuations in export earnings. The unpredictable nature of export earnings from primary products, especially when a narrow range of such products is exported, makes it diffi cult for countries to plan and allocate their resources effi ciently, thereby hindering sustainable economic growth and development. This is particularly evident in countries where backward and forward linkages are limited or non-existent within and between resource-based sectors and the rest of the economy. The uncertainty over the stability of future output growth that often characterizes resource-abundant economies can be countered to some extent by economic diversi fi cation, which calls for the broadening of the range of products and services produced for export. This may include broadening the range of primary products exported, so as to reduce dependence on a narrow range of primary export products and avoid the associated vulnerabilities. Diversi fi cation may include increasing the degree of processing of primary products prior to export, which can lead to additional local value added and reduced dependence on primary product markets. More generally, diversi fi cation is usually understood to include the production of a range of industrial and service exports. Depending on the nature of the products, this can be a skilled labourintensive and technology-driven process that transfers growth-enhancing spillover bene fi ts to the rest of the economy and promotes sustainable economic growth. It is generally accepted that the private sector, de fi ned as all economic activities not produced by the public sector, is the most powerful tool for achieving economic diversi fi cation. It induces a spiral effect on foreign and domestic investment, growth, employment, productivity and poverty alleviation. Stimulating economic diversi fi cation through broadening the range of export products requires new investment in a range of activities, which is itself dependent upon the nature of the enabling environment for both domestic and foreign investment. Botswana’s enabling environment for investment was assessed in a Report prepared by BIDPA and World Bank entitled “Diversifying Botswana’s Exports: An Overview” (2005). This Policy Brief presents the main fi ndings of that assessment. It focuses on the achievements, challenges and the way forward for Botswana in providing a business environment conducive for economic diversifi cation. To this end, the Policy Brief also provides a critical overview of what has been achieved so far, and identifi es what remains to be done.
- Topic:
- Economics, Environment, Natural Resources, and Diversification
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Botswana
98. Trade policy differentiation between developing countries under GSP schemes
- Author:
- Arne Melchior
- Publication Date:
- 09-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The paper reviews options with respect to differentiation between beneficiaries of GSP (tariff preferences for developing countries). It has for a long time been accepted that the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) may be treated better than other developing countries, but a recent WTO dispute indicates that discrimination beyond this is possible if it is based on objective criteria related to development. The paper discusses GSP differentiation in the light of this, and argues that the most generous preferences are given to a wider group of countries than the LDCs. A main reason is that LDCs constitute a small part of the developing world, and 4/5 of the world's poor live outside the LDCs. Preferences for the poorest should not become an obstacle for improved market access for the “second poorest”. The paper discusses possible reforms in Norway's GSP systems in this light. According to objective criteria, the special position of Botswana and Namibia in Norway's current GSP system could be questioned, since e.g. Botswana is now an upper middle income country.
- Topic:
- Development, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, and Third World
- Political Geography:
- Botswana
99. Indigenous to Indigenous Cooperation
- Author:
- Axel Borchgrevink
- Publication Date:
- 08-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The Norwegian section of the Saami Council has been cooperating with two indigenous organizations in Africa since 2002: the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Africa, based in Tanzania, and the First People of the Kalahari, in Botswana. The report evaluates this cooperation. It concludes that both organizations are potentially very relevant, but that for different reasons, the full potential has not been reached. Recommendations for how to strengthen the work are given.
- Topic:
- Development and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Europe, Tanzania, and Botswana
100. The Impact of Election Administration on the Legitimacy of Emerging Democracies: A New Research Agenda
- Author:
- Jørgen Elklit and Andrew Reynolds
- Publication Date:
- 09-2000
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- In this paper we attempt to push the development of a new subfield of research in the field of democratization and institutional design, which is the relationship between the institutionalization of electoral politics (and in particular the administration of elections) and the emergence of democracy in the developing world. This new avenue of research represents an important advance in the study of causal relationships, which so far has either been completely neglected in the democratization canon or has only been given dramatically insufficient attention.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Ghana, and Botswana