Great Moments in Botswana Government

When I write a “Great Moments” column, that’s always been a sign that some government is going to be subject to mockery.

For today’s column, though, I’m going to break with that pattern. That’s because I’m writing about the success story of Botswana, a country in southern Africa that has enjoyed remarkable growth thanks to comparatively good economic policy.

Is Botswana as good as Singapore? Or Switzerland?

No. Not even close.

But it enjoys far more economic liberty than other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and unsurprisingly is experiencing a faster-growing economy.

But fast growth and free markets are not the reasons for a “Great Moments” column.

Instead, I want to applaud Botswana’s leaders for dunking on some vapid European politicians. Here are some excerpts from Jacqueline Howard’s BBC report.

The president of Botswana has threatened to send 20,000 elephants to Germany in a dispute over conservation. Earlier this year, Germany’s environment ministry suggested there should be stricter limits on importing trophies from hunting animals. Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi told German media this would only impoverish people in his country. He said elephant numbers had exploded as a result of conservation efforts, and hunting helped keep them in check. Germans should “live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to”, Mr Masisi told German newspaper Bild. “This is no joke.” Botswana is home to about a third of the world’s elephant population – over 130,000 – more than it has space for. …Botswana’s Wildlife Minister Dumezweni Mthimkhulu last month threatened to send 10,000 elephants to London’s Hyde Park so British people could “have a taste of living alongside” them. In March, UK MPs voted to support a ban on importing hunting trophies, but the legislation has further scrutiny to pass before becoming law.

Needless to say, British and German politicians won’t accept surplus elephants from Botswana. Instead, they’ll continue to engage in moral preening and virtue signalling.

Since politicians are almost always worthy of contempt, I could end the column at this point.

But there’s a bigger policy lesson. For those of us who like the outdoors enjoy seeing wild animals, national parks are only part of the story. What’s also needed is expanded property rights. As we see in the case of fisheries, that would create incentives for sensible and durable conservation.

P.S. On the issue of overall economic policy, I hope Botswana’s leaders will be wise enough to reject poisonous advice from the OECD and IMF.