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Land of diamonds votes as economy loses its luster

​Workers are seen outside of the Independent Electoral Commission, where votes will be tallied, on the day before the election, in Gaborone, Botswana October 29, 2024.

Workers are seen outside of the Independent Electoral Commission, where votes will be tallied, on the day before the election, in Gaborone, Botswana October 29, 2024.

REUTERS/Thalefang Charles
Alex Kliment
By Alex KlimentOctober 29, 2024
Alex Kliment
Alex wears a few different caps and tips them all regularly. He writes for the GZERO Daily, works as a field correspondent for GZERO's nationally syndicated TV show GZERO WORLD WITH IAN BREMMER, and writes/directs/voices GZERO's award-winning puppet satire show PUPPET REGIME. Prior to joining GZERO, Alex worked as an analyst covering Russia and broader Emerging Markets for Eurasia Group. He has also written for the Financial Times from Washington, DC, and Sao Paulo Brazil. In his spare time, he makes short films and composes scores for long ones. He studied history and Slavic literature at Columbia and has a Master's from Johns Hopkins SAIS. He's a native New Yorker, a long-suffering Mets fan, and owns too many bicycles.
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The party that has governed Botswana since independence is facing an unexpectedly stiff challenge, as the diamond-rich African nation of 2.5 million heads to the polls today against a backdrop of unprecedented economic challenges.

The backstory: Botswana, which regularly vies with Russia for the top spot in global diamond production, has long been one of the wealthiest and most stable democracies in Africa.

But the rapid rise of lab-grown diamonds in recent years has eroded global demand for mined gems, which account for 90% of the country’s exports. GDP is set to expand just 1% this year, barely a fifth of what it was in 2022. Unemployment is nearing 30%.

The contenders: Current President Mokgweetsi Masisi of the Botswana Democratic Party is seeking a second six-year term, but it’s hard to be the “change” candidate representing a party that’s been in power for 58 years.

His top challengers are opposition leader Duma Boko, a Harvard-educated human rights lawyer representing the Umbrella for Democratic Change, and Mephato Reatile of the Botswana Patriotic Front, a party formed five years ago as a breakaway from the BDP.

The job: Whoever takes power will need to dig deep for a new economic model in a country long accustomed to pulling wealth out of the ground.

botswana election

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