Botswana

Long considered to be one of Africa’s least endowed countries, Botswana struck it rich in diamonds in the 1970s. As other countries on the continent descended into war over such mineral wealth, Botswana invested it in education, health care, housing and infrastructure. Botswana is politically stable, has a well-educated and skilled workforce and corruption is low according to Transparency International. The country is encouraging the development of other industries than mining to ensure a prosperous future for its population, such as tourism, agricultural processing, power generation and textiles. Botswana currently has one of the most dynamic economies in all of Africa. But the world has not sat up to take notice of this small yet stable and prosperous corner of the continent.

The country’s investment promotion agency BEDIA issued an international tender for the development of a Brand Strategy for the country. Placebrands, in partnership with Kaiser Economic Development Practice of South Africa, responded to and eventually won the tender for this work. We started work on this exciting project at the beginning of 2006 and we completed the brand strategy development and the implementation planning by the end of the year. On 11 December 2007, the Brand of Botswana was officially launched by His Excellency President Festus Mogae during a special ceremony held in the capital Gaborone.

His Excellency Ian Khama was inaugurated as President of the Republic of Botswana on 1 April 2008. In his inauguration speech he mentioned the Brand Strategy for Botswana, He said: 'To actualise the contribution [the brand strategy] will make towards realising Vision 2016, it will be necessary to make some changes in the way our country operates'.