Yearbook 2007
Botswana. At the beginning of the year, Botswana border
control against Zimbabwe sharpened the fear of a stream of
illegal immigrants, after a large number of opposition
groups were arrested in neighboring countries following
protests against the Mugabe regime. Relations between
Botswana and Zimbabwe have deteriorated since the Botswana
government began building an electrified fence along the
border. Officially, the 50-mile-long fence will prevent the
spread of foot-and-mouth disease, but Zimbabwe sees it as a
way to stop them from fleeing to Botswana. Over 56,000
Zimbabweans who crossed the border were deported from
Botswana in 2006.
According to
CountryAAH, Botswana and Mauritius were the only African countries
during the year on Transparency International's top 50 list
of the world's least corrupt countries. They also had
Africa's most liberal economies according to the Heritage
Foundation's index. Botswana also came in third in a list of
good political leadership and governance in Africa, compiled
by experts at Harvard University in the United States.
In April, the government decided to require a visa from a
number of foreign journalists, human rights activists and
academics. One of the journalists found that it was mainly
about people who were interested in the conditions of the
Bushmen in Botswana. In 2006, a court ruled that a group of
bushmen in Kalahari had been illegally driven from their
traditional settlements. During the year, police and
gamekeepers were accused of torturing a large number of
bushmen arrested for hunting. According to human rights
activists, the intention is to terrorize the Bushmen so that
they dare not return to their original settlements, where it
is considered that the government is planning mining.
Energy crisis in the surrounding countries of southern
Africa increased interest in Botswana's large reserves of
coal during the year. South Africa will benefit most from a
Botswana project where a power plant next to the large coal
mine Mmamabula in south-eastern Botswana is expected to
generate 2,400 megawatts fully developed.
In the border area between Botswana, Angola, Namibia,
Zambia and Zimbabwe, the world's largest wildlife park
Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Park is planned, which is
estimated to cost $ 100 million to prepare.
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