Products and Markets

The country's investment climate has attracted industrialists from various parts of the world, such as, South Africa, France, Belgium, China, India, USA, UK, Sweden, Mauritius, and South Korea. A wide variety of goods is already manufactured for the local and international markets. Botswana products enter the EU countries quota and duty-free as Botswana is a signatory of the Lome Convention. Products include automobiles; parts and components for automobile industry; polished diamonds and semi-precious stones; electronic and electrical items; engineering products; textiles, garments and other ancillary products; leather goods; and canned beef products.

There are also no restrictions on exports to the USA, nor into the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). The SACU is a regional trading arrangement between the five countries of Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, which provides for a common external tariff and rebate system and sharing of revenues. The ratification of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) Trade Protocol will open new avenues for free trade within the region and for industrialists investing in Botswana. In terms of the market size, therefore, Botswana-based manufacturing enterprises are able to sell to a vast regional market of about 200 million people, and other international markets.