Infrastructure Investment Framework in Botswana

Infrastructure, as both a feature of the enabling environment for investment and as an investment opportunity, presents valuable opportunities for stimulating foreign and domestic investment on a large scale – provided that adequate frameworks for regulation and private participation are in place. This chapter first highlights the strategic importance of infrastructure development for Botswana (including through cross-border projects and regional co-operation), given the country’s geographic constraints and small domestic market size. It then provides an overview of the state of existing infrastructure networks in Botswana – in power, transport, ICT, and water – and of the degree of private participation in these markets. Current legal and institutional frameworks for encouraging greater private participation in infrastructure are then investigated, including recent momentum in the area of PPPs and privatisation. Finally the issue of pricing and regulation in infrastructure markets, which can strongly impact not only on end-user affordability but also the attractiveness of infrastructure projects for private investors, is analysed.