Botswana set to post surplus in 2012

Last year, up to 90,000 state workers staged an unprecedented two-month strike demanding steep pay rises.

Khama, refused to back down and eventually won through by arguing that the country could not afford the increases. However, the episode shook the ruling party’s 45-year grip on power.

The 2008/09 slump in global gem prices forced some of Botswana’s diamond mines to close for the first time, and gave a glimpse of difficulties that await when the mines run dry.

The budget deficit ballooned to a whopping 15 percent of GDP, and forced the government to seek an emergency US$1.5 billion loan from the African Development Bank (ADB) to keep its operations afloat.

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