AID, education and development in Botswana: A qualitative analysis

This paper deals with aid and education in Botswana. Three research questions are posed: is Botswana favoured in terms of the aid it receives; are there features of Botswana that make it attractive to aid donors; and is Botswana a model to other developing countries in the way it uses aid? Data were obtained from published and other sources and from interviews with personnel working for aid agencies and Botswana working for the Government. The atypical nature of Botswana is considered: the answer to the first question is negative and positive to the last two. The lessons drawn from the investigation are that Botswana's performance in deploying aid is exemplary in many ways but that the country is being penalised for her own success. Some of the implications of this are explored and a case is made out for increasing aid to Botswana as it could then serve as an exemplar to the developing world in its use of aid.