Botswana is often cited as a model developing country. A stable democracy since independence in 1966, the southern African country has also managed to leverage its substantial diamond production to bring broader development to its people and avoid some of the problems encountered by other countries with mineral resources. Reflective of its success, average income has risen by a factor of 15 over the past four decades. President Festus Mogae, who has led Botswana since 1998, reflected on his country's experiences and highlighted some of the remaining challenges at this public event. Center for Global Development's president, Nancy Birdsall, moderated the discussion.
*Watch President Festus Mogae's keynote address. *(The video streams in Quicktime. If you do not have Quicktime player on your computer download it for free or if you are having problems streaming the video it is also available for download. [ 54.2 MB] )
*Read event transcript [95KB]
