Voices of Botswana

Botswana's economy is still dependent on the mining sector, in particular diamonds, which contributes about a third of the country's GDP. The Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA) is an autonomous private sector led organisation that helps set up export-oriented enterprises. Through BEDIA, the Government's strategy is to diversify the economy away from the mineral sector, hence an industrial policy geared towards export orientated manufacture.

Potential investment opportunities are based on the availability of raw materials locally, or on imported raw materials for processing. The country's young and vibrant economy makes the potential and the choice of opportunities much wider for the prospective investor.

BEDIA works closely with the government of Botswana to ensure that the country has an economy and climate conducive to investment. It is also entrusted with the task of identifying market outlets for locally manufactured products, in addition to constructing factory buildings for establishing manufacturing enterprises.