Industrial Strategy

Botswana has realised the need to diversify the economy away from the mineral sector and, as a result, has embarked on various policies to encourage investment in manufacturing and allied industries. The industrial strategy is geared towards export-oriented manufacture, although there is plenty of room to invest in the import-substitution sector. For tax purposes, government makes no distinction between production for the local market and for export. The corporate tax for manufacturing enterprises is a uniform 15%, the lowest in Southern Africa, and 25% for other sectors. The introduction of new production techniques and transfer of technology are important considerations, while manufactured products can be based on both imported raw materials for further transformation, or on raw materials available locally.