Assessment of Botswana’s

Services Sector
A Study for the BTPP/BIDPA*

March 2007

Dirk Willem te Velde and Massimiliano Calì

____________________________________________________________
* The views presented in this paper are those of the authors
and do not necessarily represent the views of the BTPP/BIDPA

Overseas Development Institute

111 Westminster Bridge Road,
London, SE1 7JD, United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7922 0300 Fax: +44 (0)20 7922 0399
www.odi.org.uk
 Table of Contents
Table of Contents .....................................................................................................................1
Executive summary..................................................................................................................2
1 Introduction....................................................................................................................11
2 Overview of trade in services in Botswana ..................................................................12
2.1 Modes 1 and 2 supply of services ................................................................................. 14
2.2 Mode 3 and 4 supply of services................................................................................... 18
3 Overview of measures affecting trade in services in Botswana .................................23
3.1. International services trade policy ............................................................................... 23
3.2. Domestic regulatory and institutional framework ....................................................... 28
3.3. Domestic supply capacity for trade in services............................................................ 32
4 Screening and scoping ...................................................................................................35
5 Trade in tourism services ..............................................................................................43
5.1 Overview....................................................................................................................... 43
5.2 Importance of sector for economic development and poverty reduction ..................... 43
5.3 Summary of relevant regulatory frameworks ............................................................... 47
5.4 Analysis of key constraints ........................................................................................... 49
5.5 Possible implications for trade in services policy......................................................... 51
5.6 The new 2006 Tourism regulations and GATS consistency ........................................ 56
6 Trade in financial services.............................................................................................61
6.1 Overview....................................................................................................................... 61
6.2 Importance of sector for economic development and poverty reduction ..................... 62
6.3 Summary of relevant regulatory frameworks ............................................................... 66
6.4 Analysis of key constraints ........................................................................................... 68
6.6 Different paths for GATS commitments in insurance and banking services................ 73
7 Trade in education services...........................................................................................75
7.1 Overview....................................................................................................................... 75
7.2 Importance of sector for economic development and poverty reduction ..................... 76
7.3 Summary of relevant regulatory frameworks ............................................................... 80
7.4 Analysis of key constraints ........................................................................................... 80
7.5 Possible implications for trade in services policy......................................................... 82
8 Conclusions.....................................................................................................................85
Appendix 1 Services requests from EC ..................................................................................87
Appendix 2 Preliminary sectoral results based on consultations..........................................89
Appendix 3 SADC protocols .................................................................................................107
Appendix 4 Timeline of study ...............................................................................................110
Appendix 5 People consulted................................................................................................111
Appendix 6 Further studies ..................................................................................................112
Appendix 7 The GATS: an introduction ..............................................................................113
References.............................................................................................................................117

1
 Executive summary
The role of the services sector in Botswana’s diversification

Botswana has experienced one of the most impressive growth rates in the world over the last
four decades and the highest rate of per-capita growth in the world between 1965 and 1998.
The average growth rate since the 1980s has been 7.8%. Yet, the strategy of economic
diversification during the eighties and nineties has had limited success, with a small
reduction in the share of mining, and an increase in the share of services to the economy. The
share of services rose from 37% in 1990 to over 50% of GDP in the second half of the
nineties and it has not increased since then. Mining contributed a staggering 40% of the
growth between 1965 and 1998.

The importance and potential of the services sector is underlined by its significant
contribution to employment (61% of total employment and 75% of female employment). The
largest private and parastatal employers include construction and commerce, which are also
among the most labour intensive services in the economy. The contribution of commerce in
total employment has been steadily growing in the last few years.

The country has become a net exporter of services for the first time in 2003. This is
noticeable for a landlocked country, which tends to be a big net importer of transport
services. Overall trade in services has grown substantially in the last few years, including
ICT, financial services and government services. The services export capacity of Botswana is
most in tourism, contributing 5% of GDP.

The share of the service sectors in inward FDI increased, while that of mining is decreasing,
although it is still the largest recipient. This reallocation of FDI is in part due to the
increasing inflows especially in finance, and to a lesser extent hospitality (linked to the
tourism industry). The role of retail and wholesale sector in attracting FDI is also important,
while transport and communications and utilities have increased their weight marginally (and
may increase with possible privatisations). Overall services captured 36% of the total FDI
stock in 2004 and 90% of non-mining foreign investments.

Thus, recent indicators (in as far as they can be properly measured) point to an increasing
importance of the role played by the services sector in Botswana’s economic development
and diversification in the growth process. However, this is only the beginning for a sector
which should have a bright future given the factor endowments if the relevant policy and
regulatory frameworks are put in place. We suggest it is important to monitor and measure
the importance of trade in services.

A coherent framework to developing trade in services

Developing trade in services is a complicated process. Botswana currently lacks an explicit

trade in services policy or a detailed, holistic plan to develop trade in services. There are
important strategy documents, such as the Vision 2016 which considers individual service
sectors, or the recently discussed national trade policy which also selects some sectors for
special treatment. However, developing trade in services, a catalyst to promote economic
diversification away from traditional sectors, involves a fundamental shift in the mindset
throughout the whole economy involving different types of actions.

2
The constraints to trade in services are complex and go beyond trade constraints. A very
policy relevant approach is to distinguish amongst three sets of constraints. They include
• external constraints (e.g. international trade in services agreements),
• domestic regulatory and institutional framework and
• supply-side, or domestic capacity constraints.

This approach is particularly useful for several reasons. First is provides an analytical lens to
developing trade in services – trying to make sense of the myriad of constraints to trade in
services. Secondly, it delineates clear responsibilities for different actors in different sectors,
ministries and other stakeholders. Having said this, lead co-ordination is required to ensure
that the constraints identified are properly tackled. Finally, unlike in the case of trade in
goods, domestic regulatory frameworks can be key. Thus, the approach points to what types
of interventions are appropriate. In Botswana there are good examples that show this.

The effects of the banking and tourism sectors on Botswana’s development is currently
below potential. Recent tourism legislation aimed to address the effects that competition of
foreigners had on domestic tourist enterprises. It used trade related domestic regulation,
reserving certain sectors for nationals, to solve what in effect may have been a capacity
problem. A problem often mentioned is that local tour guides lack access to credit in order to
set up an own enterprise.

A lack of coherence in addressing capacity constraints are at the heart of the problem of why
back office services essential for tourism and financial services in Botswana tend to be
located in countries such as South Africa and Kenya. A boost for the back office services and
hence the impact of services on the economy would be to develop the appropriate skills and
IT infrastructure so that back office operations are facilitated. This needs to be a positive
boost and not be a move toward a forced location policy. In other areas, trade constraints
need to be addressed. For instance, regional financial regulation and improved access for its
nationals abroad would help Botswana’s exporters of services.

Trade in services and development, screening and scoping service sectors.

Botswana’s service sectors are very diverse. They range from small sectors with a negligible
contribution to employment (e.g. environmental and recreational, cultural and sporting
services) to large sectors with high contribution to employment and GDP (e.g. construction)
and substantial exports (e.g. tourism).

One way to prioritise service sectors is to take the GATS classification and score them along
various criteria. These criteria capture the actual and potential contribution of these sectors to
the country’s exports, growth, employment and poverty reduction. The sectors are also
classified according to the extent to which policy measures may be effective in lifting the
constraints that hinder their development. Data on services trade is not always precise and
Botswana would need to improve its system of recording in order to effectively track the
progress of the different sectors.

Most sectors have a small export capacity, and they appear to be fairly uncompetitive
especially relative to South Africa (i.e. the largest exporter of services in the region).
Tourism, transport and to some extent financial services are the only sectors with significant
capacity to export. Botswana appears to be a fairly large net importer of educational services
(especially from South Africa) due to its lack of domestic capacity.

3
In contrast, services do constitute a fundamental part of Botswana’s economy, with certain
sectors representing a significant share of domestic GDP (i.e. construction, distribution,
financial services and tourism). Other sectors are crucial through their indirect contribution
to GDP, as they provide backbone services for the rest of the economy (e.g. education,
health, transport, communication, business services).

Some sectors are crucial for development. Distributional service is the single most important
sector for employment after the government. Construction is as important for employment as
the entire manufacturing sector. Financial services and tourism have also a large share. As
many of these sectors employ relatively unskilled labour, their contribution to development is
enhanced further.

While all sectors have important constraints that could be addressed by policy measures,
some appear to be able to particularly benefit from these measures in terms of strengthening
their capacity to trade, such as financial services, education, tourism and business services.
Also air services are amenable to strict regulations.

After a detailed analysis and considering the available studies and the presence of possible
role models for the sectors, there seem three important services sectors for further analysis:
financial services, tourism and educational services. Tourism is the service sector with the
highest current exports (and also important for employment and GDP); finance has a high
potential for exports and education could be the ideal sector for an import substitution
strategy.

We have also identified other sectors which are important according to these criteria and
which could be examined in the future. Table E1 summarises some of the constraints that
could be analysed further in each of the sector (grouped according to the three types of
constraints).

4
Table ES1 Some constraints to be addressed in other relevant services sectors
Transport Communication Construction

External Need to or strengthen Need for a greater Formal trade constraints

regional cooperation in understanding of the do not appear important;
transport issues potential role for GATS streamlining of
(including harmonization commitments in requirements to
and simplification of accompanying the participate in public
border operations and process of liberalization, tender processes in South
development of e.g. by carefully Africa may be beneficial
infrastructure network). evaluating the requests to potential export
made to Botswana in activities.
Need to coordinate telecommunications by
efforts at the regional other countries. There have been requests
level if Botswana were to by other countries in
develop an air cargo hub. construction.

Domestic regulatory Need to assess the Need to assess whether Potential for improving
potential impact of the current regulation on government procurement
current limited electronic data exchange operations, which
liberalization of air and on internet protocols currently seem to
transport regulation (both is coherent with the constrain the orderly
BASA and domestic desire to develop a BPO development of the
regulation) and the hub. domestic sector
potential impact of Air
Botswana’s privatisation Need to evaluate the
on the air transport potential effects of the
industry. current phase of
liberalization in the sector
(TLC, VOIP) and what
this means for external
trade in services
negotiations.
Supply capacity Need to address the Need to assess the Need to increase the
potential for skills viability and importance availability of skilled
shortages (e.g. bus of optic fibre cable labour (esp. construction
drivers). initiatives in enhancing engineers and quantity
the quality and surveyors)
accessibility of
telecommunication
services.

Services in international trade negotiations

Botswana is member of WTO and GATS, and of a series of regional agreements, including
the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) Southern African Development Community
(SADC) and the African Union/African Economic Community, in which all the other SACU
countries also participate. SADC protocols are drafted in three areas related to trade in
services
• trade in services,
• finance and investment and
• migration.

Negotiations with the EU and US are also ongoing and these could also include services
provisions. EPAs with the EU have the possibility of including services, with special and
differential support measures.

5
For Botswana, these negotiations offer threats and opportunities. Threats because open up
some sectors to further service providers may lead to unwelcome effects if the regulatory
framework is not in place (though Botswana already tends to be open and non-
discriminatory. However, it can also offer opportunities for Botswana because it can signal
openness and attract investment and service providers. Further opportunities relate to better
market access abroad for Botswana’s services suppliers.

How then can the threats be minimised and opportunities be realised?

Botswana needs to think about the following issues

• what are the interests at various negotiation levels (e.g. commitments in GATS if
investment promotion is aim; SADC for sensitive service sectors; connection to aid in
EPAs)
• what are the key sectors of interest (defensive and offensive, e.g. tourism, financial and
transport services)
• what are the key modes of interest (e.g., supply services through online transactions,
through consumption abroad or through temporary migration or foreign direct
investment)
• what is the most appropriate negotiating strategy (e.g. should it make commitments in
services to get something back in services in other countries, or in agriculture, or because
unilateral is good for the economy?)

The key issue is not whether Botswana needs to be engaged but how. It is only through active
involvement in such negotiations that Botswana can signal openness to FDI in banking and
other sectors, can get better access for financial services and Botswana’s service workers in
key countries, or can improve access to aid instruments to enhance the services supply
capacity.

Crucial questions now need to be raised on how to engage in services negotiations and the
complementary policies.

Trade in financial services: GATS, EPAs and complementary policies

Botswana has not listed the financial services sector in GATS (General Agreement of Trade
in Services), despite the existence of non-discriminatory legislation and an already important
presence of foreign banks. Banks in Botswana are amongst the most profitable in the world
with a 40% average return on assets. Some large banks have a profit ratio of 100%. If profits
are supra-normal more competition may well be needed and commitments in both GATS and
possibly EPAs (Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU) help to signal this. It is also
possible that high profits are a reflection of limited competitive pressures due to the relatively
high entry costs in small markets, as banks emphasise. Policy should then focus on lowering
the fixed costs of entry. Extending GATS commitments to financial services would need to
coincide with a good regulatory framework. And this differs between insurance and banking.

The supervision in the banking sector is relatively advanced. As in most other countries, the
supervision of banking is in the hands of the central bank (not a ministry). And while it may
not be carrying out extensive checks, there are existing checks on banks. A revised banking
act has brought banking legislation in line with changes in the global industry's norms for
regulation, supervision and payments. Botswana seems ready for further GATS commitments
in banking services to signal a move towards more competition.

6
The supervision of the pension and insurance industry is less well advanced and is inside the
Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. The latter has been devising a Non-Bank
Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) framework. Because some changes
still have to take place it seems better to wait until the new authority is working before
Botswana can make any commitments in GATS negotiations on the non-banking financial
services sector.

A different but real constraint to trade in financial services is the weak conditions for back-
office operations. Two main types of complementary policies are required: developing skills
and developing an appropriate IT infrastructure. Without these, even a favourable incentive
framework cannot keep companies in Botswana. The relatively poor quality of general IT
infrastructure including poor data exchange processes is believed to have been a major cause
of Barclays’ decision to relocate part of its back office operations away from Botswana (via
IFSC). Barclays were not able to get the right calibre of staff on an ongoing basis and the IT
infrastructure did not match the requirements of the company. Thus small standalone units
without appropriate support services may not work. The skills and IT framework needs to be
fully up to scratch to international standards. Other banks also listed the lack of skilled labour
as one of their primary concerns. The Standard Chartered back office services for Africa are
located in Kenya. Hence, while trade commitments should be considered it should go hand in
hand with complementary policies.

Promoting trade in education services: dampen ambitions, but step changes are needed

It is unlikely that Botswana will become a global education hub in the near future. However,
it can try to improve the balance on trade in education services and regard the provision of
education services as an import substitution strategy. It can also attempt to improve the
relevance of its education sector to the development of other service sectors such as financial
or tourism services. It can also move quickly to build up education expertise in niche areas
such as nurse education, and use successful examples from the accountancy sector.

Botswana aims to build an innovative economy for the 21st century. Tertiary education plays
a vital role in this by ensuring an adequate set of skills for the economy’s needs. Trade in
education services plays a unique role in Botswana: exports of services are low, but imports
of subsided education services are very high.

There has been little strategic direction towards the tertiary education sector. A recent
document brings this out. Towards a Knowledge Society: A Proposal for a Tertiary
Education Policy for Botswana (TEC, October 2006) suggested that the tertiary education
system is fragmented with no clear oversight, has many small institutions failing to reap
economies of scale, faces a proliferation of private institutions offering poor quality
programmes at high costs, and with concerns about the relevance and quality of tertiary
education programmes.

Botswana will not be able to fully withstand competition from countries such as South
Africa. However, Botswana could aspire to become a regional hub for education in a limited
number of subjects, and obvious candidates include education and training related to nursing,
HIV/AIDS research, financial services, tourism and wetlands. It will also need to be open to
foreign tertiary education institutes either through subsidiaries or in the form of partnerships
with well-known business schools and universities and their staff, e.g. by using EPA
agreements with the EU. Dubai, Singapore and now Mauritius have been reforming their
tertiary education sector to become more open, attracting foreign business schools and
foreign students.
7
Becoming an education services hub does not happen overnight when the economic
fundamentals are lacking (although when economic fundamentals are right a few changes in
the law and mode of attracting foreign schools can make a big difference, as in Singapore
and Dubai). But filling a skills gap as part of an import substitution strategy is not impossible
either. For instance, the Botswana Accountancy College (BAC), a private sector college
subsidised by the Government of Botswana and Debswana, was founded in 1996 when the
country had only four registered Batswana accountants. Now, there are 400. All of the
qualifications that BAC provides are internationally recognised. This example shows that a
public–private partnership can build up a tertiary education college from scratch and fill an
important skills gap

The new tourism regulations

The new tourism regulations, 2006, state that the following tourist enterprises are reserved
for citizens of Botswana or companies which are wholly owned by citizens of Botswana:
Camping sites including caravan sites, Guest houses, Mekoro operations, Mobile safaris,
Motorboat safaris and Transportation. Does this regulation counter past commitments by
Botswana?

In fact, Botswana has already made commitments in 1995 in modes 1–3 including in the
following sub-sectors:
9a Hotels&Restaurants (UN classification CPC641–643) and 9b Travel agencies and tour
operators. CPC641–643 include services such as camping and caravanning, which would be
reserved for nationals under the new regulations. GATS tourism sector 9b could include CPC
7471 travel agency and tour operator services. Thus, some operations in the new regulations
might be included in CPCs for which Botswana has already made commitments. On this
account the new regulations go against existing GATS commitments unless the newly
reserved operations were classified as:
• tourist guide services (for which there are currently no commitments in GATS)
• mode 4 supply of services (it could have classified this as a mode 4 market access
limitation, which is “unbound except as indicated in the horizontal commitments”.)

There are three options for the future.

1) Rewrite tourism regulations

Restricting services companies to citizens is not conducive to a vibrant services sector and
would go against Botswana’s policy to diversify. It would be more efficient to promote
domestic capabilities first, and then use immigration procedures rather than blunt restrictions
on enterprises. A particular concern is the lack of access to credit for independent
(indigenous) tour operators to set up their own business. The new regulations could limit the
ability of foreign owned tourist enterprises to operate even if they brought new skills,
marketing methods, finance, attracted new tourists and employed citizens. The impact of the
new regulations have so far been limited as the number of nationally-owned tourism
enterprises increased by 11% to only 247 last year.

8
2) Adequate interpretation of law

Another option for Botswana would be to clarify the new tourism legislation. It might be
possible to regard the classified operations by non-citizens tourist enterprises as self-
employed or independent professionals under mode 4, as in mode 4 schedules of other
countries.

3) Revoke GATS commitments

Pursuant to GATS article XXI, a country wishing to reverse or add a further limitation can do
so after a period of 3 years of the commitment being in place – (this includes tourism
commitments as well). Further, it needs to negotiate compensation with all affected parties.
This might be against the development of the sector.

Detailed suggestions

The report includes the following detailed suggestions

Tourism services
• Development of an explicit tourism plan that can be used by the stakeholders as a context
for other activities.
• Use investment promotion and trade negotiations of other services to improve the
provision of support services
• Obtain more effective regulation of work permits
• Maintain existing land leasing policy
• Provide appropriate and good quality skills
• Increase tourism marketing (for secondary sites) including in Southern Africa
• Improve air access

Financial services
• Improve discussions at the SADC level on integration of financial services
• Strengthen the network of double taxation agreements
• Monitor work permit issues in the financial services sector
• Improving the links between formal training to professional experience and enhancing
education programmes tailored to the specific needs of the sector
• Improved connection to more and higher quality fibre optic cables in order to provide an
environment conducive for back office services. Consider GATS commitments to
facilitate investment in the ICT sector
• Consider taking GATS commitments in financial services sub-sectors, but need to assess
appropriateness of current regulatory capacities, particularly for insurance services.

Education services
• Reduce reliance on imports of education services by speeding up plans for the Botswana
International University of Science and Technology and the by expanding the capacity of
the University of Botswana.
• Open up to foreign tertiary education institutes either through subsidiaries or in the form
of partnerships with well-known business schools and universities, e.g. using agreements
with the EU.
• Negotiate recognition agreements for Botswana’s tertiary education institutes at the level
of SADC.
9
Transportation services

• Botswana’s restrictive policies keep air access very expensive compared to other regional
routes.
• While there may be negative consequences for the 320 employees of Air Botswana if it
has to face more competition, and while there may also be some short term uncertainty in
case Air Botswana failed to secure certain routes in the face of competition, a gradual
move to liberalisation coupled with upgrading and if appropriate privatisation of the
national carrier seems a suitable way forward.
• It is important to promote the idea of an air access unit, with inputs from the Ministries
responsible for Trade and Tourism, in order to steer and analyse the restructuring process.

Table ES2 zooms in on the implications for Botswana’s position on trade in services
negotiations

Table ES2 Botswana – issues of interest for international trade negotiations

Tourism Financial Education (tert)

GATS Sector is already Botswana could Too soon to make GATS
open, and committed consider GATS commitments, but
with success. commitments in review legislation and
banking services, education strategy to
New regulations but may need a promote private and
may seem at odds more phased foreign tertiary
with the spirit of approach in education institutes in
GATS commitments insurance. key areas alongside
plans for new public
Tertiary education
institutes.
EPA Ask for Mode 4 Commit banking Partnerships with
access. services to the EU, universities (cf
Supply capacity would signal Mauritius, Caribbean),
measures in the area competition. student exchanges
of tourism
development
programmes (EDF)
SADC Air transport access Develop regional Mutual recognition of
(towards more open markets for qualifications amongst
skies agreements) financial products. countries, beginning at
Coordinated tourism SADC level
promotion efforts.

10
 1 Introduction
This report provides an assessment of Botswana’s services sector with the aim to identify
possible options, in particular in the case of ongoing regional and multilateral services trade
negotiations, to support further exports of services from Botswana. Botswana has
experienced one of the most impressive growth rates in the world over the last few decades,
but this has been dependent on a few sectors, mining in particular. There have been long
standing challenges to diversify the economy into new areas, including tourism, international
financial services or professional services.

This study examines the services sector in Botswana generally by identifying key constraints
to diversifying into and stimulate further trade in services, distinguishing between supply
side, regulatory and external (e.g. regional) constraints. The key activities in this project have
included an extensive inception phase, with seminars and discussions with stakeholders
relating to possible roles that international negotiations in the area of trade in services can
play to stimulate Botswana’s trade in services and the role trade in services play in
development, and which led information required to select sectors for further examination.

The approach we have taken in this study has been in consultation with BIDPA/BTTP, the
Ministry of Trade and Industry, and others stakeholders and consisted so far of two phases:
1) Screening and scoping, where key sectors were selected; and 2) Analysis of key (trade-
related) constraints in key sectors.

This report has the following structure. Section 2 reviews data on trade in services in
Botswana, and section 3 provides an overview of measures affecting trade in services in
Botswana. Section 4 screens and scopes in sectors for further analysis, and these are analysed
in more detail in Section 5-7. Section 8 concludes with possible implications for Botswana’s
position on trade in services negotiations. A policy summary precedes this introduction

11
 2 Overview of trade in services in Botswana
Botswana has experienced one of the most impressive growth rates in the world over the last
four decades and the highest rate of per-capita growth in the world between 1965 and 1998.1
The average growth rate since the 1980s has been 7.8%, about 40% of which can be
explained by mining, which represents a significant share of the national economy (Table 1,
where mining is included in industry).

The strategy of economic diversification during the eighties and nineties had limited success,
with a reduction in the contribution of mining, and an increase in the contribution of services
to the economy. The share of services increased from 37% in 19902 to over 50% of GDP in
the second half of the nineties. However in the last few years it has averaged slightly below
50% of GDP (Table 1), with an lower share of most services, including the largest private
ones (financial services, trade, construction and transport). While the share of the services
sectors has fallen, the level of real activity has increased for virtually all services sectors, but
the level of mining activity has increased even faster.

Table 1 Botswana GDP composition (% of value added – in 1993–94 constant prices)

1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05
Agriculture 4.1 3.6 3.3 2.8 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.1
Mining 33.9 33.9 38.1 37.7 39.6 42.5 40.4 40.8 39.6 43.2
Manufacturing 4.8 4.7 4.3 4.2 4.1 3.7 3.7 3.5 3.4 3
Services 52.8 53.6 50.3 50.8 49.8 47.8 50.5 49.5 50.4 46.7
Water and electricity 2.1 2.1 2 2.1 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.1
Construction 6.2 6.2 5.7 5.9 5.6 5.2 5.4 5 4.9 4.5
Trade, hotels and
restaurants 9.9 10.7 9.8 9.6 9.5 9.3 9.9 9.8 10.6 9.1
Trade excl. H&R 8.3 9.2 8.3 8.4 8.3 8.1 8.7 8.3 9 7.7
Hotels & Rest. 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.4
Transport, post & TLC 3.6 3.6 3.4 3.7 3.6 3.3 3.4 3.1 2.9 2.8
Road transport 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.8
Air Transport 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
Post & TLC 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.2
Banks, insurance &
Business services 11.2 10.8 10.3 10.5 10.2 9.8 10.4 9.7 9.6 9.2
Banks & insurance 3.8 4.2 4.7 4.5 4.5 4.3 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.5
Real estate &
business services 5.2 4.5 3.7 4.2 3.9 3.9 4 3.5 3.4 3.4
General government 15.4 15.8 15.1 15 14.8 14.5 15.4 16.1 16.4 15.6
Social and personal
services 4.4 4.4 4 4 3.9 3.6 3.8 3.6 3.7 3.4
Non-Profit
Institutions serving
HH 2.1 2.2 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.8 2.1 2.3
Adjustment Items 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.4 4.1 3.4 3.1 4.1 4.6 4.8
Total value added 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Note: Years run from July to June
Source: Bank of Botswana (2005)

1
An academic account of the crucial role that institutions, historical factors and good policy choices have
played in explaining this performance is given in instance Acemoglu et al. (2001).
2
Source: WDI
12
The importance of the services sector is also underlined by its significant contribution to
employment (61% of total employment and 75% of female employment was absorbed by the
services sectors in 2001 – World Bank, 2006). If we take only private and parastatal
employees, the largest employers include construction and commerce, which are also among
the most labour intensive services in the economy. The contribution of commerce in total
employment has been steadily growing in the last few years, while the other sectors have
maintained a more stable pattern (except for some increase in education, which may need
further investigation – are there new private educational institutions or are the existing ones
increasing their activities? At what level of the educational ladder?). The rise in services’
contribution to total employment has coincided with a reduction of public sector employment
(entirely driven by the fall of the contribution by central government).

Table 2 Botswana sectoral employment (% of total employment)

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Private and parastatal 57.8 57.8 59.5 60.2 60.1 61.6 60.6 61.1
Agriculture 1.7 1.7 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.2
Mining and quarrying 3.8 3.6 3.2 3.1 2.9 2.5 2.7 2.8
Manufacturing 10.4 9.6 10.9 10.8 11.2 11.1 10.6 10.6
Services 41.9 43.0 43.4 44.1 45.1 45.7 45.1 45.6
Electricity and water 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.0
Construction 8.6 10.4 10.7 10.8 10.2 10.5 10.3 10.4
Commerce 18.0 17.9 17.3 17.4 18.7 19.6 19.2 19.4
Transport & comm 3.7 3.5 3.8 3.9 3.8 3.6 3.6 3.6
Finance and business 6.9 6.5 6.7 6.6 7.2 6.7 6.5 6.7
Community /personal 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.9 2.0
Education 1.9 1.9 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.5
General government 42.2 42.2 40.5 39.8 39.9 38.4 39.4 38.9
Central government 34.3 34.4 33.0 32.7 32.0 30.3 31.1 30.7
Local government 7.8 7.8 7.4 7.2 7.9 8.1 8.3 8.1
Total 226,800 241,600 257,100 262,300 266,500 273,782 279,724 285,383
Source: Central Statistical Office

This study is particularly concerned with the performance of Botswana’s trade in services.
Trade negotiators tend to divide trade in services by the way services are supplied across
borders. The General Agreement of Trade in Services (GATS) uses four different modes of
supply of services: cross-border supply (Mode 1), services consumed abroad (2), services
supplied via commercial presence abroad (3) and services supplied via temporary movements
of labour (4). Box 1 provides examples of these modes in the case of Botswana.

13
 Box 1. Examples of modes of supply of services in Botswana

Potentially all modes of supply of services across borders are relevant to Botswana. For example
Mode 1 trade in services occurs when a professional service (e.g.: inbound call management
services via a call centre) is provided by a Botswana firm to a foreign client on-line

Mode 2 supply could refer for instance to a foreign visitors consuming services in Botswana (e.g.
meal in a restaurant, night in a hotel, guided tour to a park) during their stay in the country (this
would be a services export for Botswana).

Mode 3 supply may be related to the sale of a financial service (e.g. insurance product) by a
foreign financial services firm, which has created a direct branch in Botswana. In this case
Botswana would be importing the service. As this transaction is carried out entirely in the
importing country’s territory, and as it is not different from a domestic transaction (the only
difference is that the operating branch is foreign owned), such mode of trade is difficult to record
and information on its potential value is scarce (usually contained in FATS statistics).

Finally, mode 4 is related to the temporary movement of Botswana nationals (e.g. doctors, nurses)
abroad in order to supply a specialized service in a particular country (e.g. medical, nursing). In
this case Botswana would be exporting services. As for mode 3, even mode 4 transactions are
difficult to record, and some creative ways of estimating the value of this type of trade may be
needed (e.g. by inferring it from the number and types of professionals migrated abroad, or
remittances received from abroad).

2.1 Modes 1 and 2 supply of services

Most of the quantitative data readily available on services trade is related to Mode 1 and 2.
Data by UNCTAD shows that the increase in services share in Botswana’s economy has been
accompanied by a rise in trade in services, which in 2003 represented 23% of total trade (this
represented a marked increase from the 15% of the early 1990s) and 17% of GDP (World
Bank, 2006). Pushed by exports (which trebled between 1990 and 2003), total trade in
services peaked at US$ 1.3 billion in 2003. The share of services in total export has been
rapidly increasing since the second half of the nineties, from 6% to over 20% in 2003,
representing a crucial way to diversify Botswana’s production base.

This may actually not come as a surprise given the natural geography of the country: being a
landlocked and scarcely populated country is more of a disadvantage for trade in
manufacturing than for trade in services, because most manufacturing products require
expensive transport costs and their costs of production are affected by the size of the market.

Table 3 shows the rising importance of trade in services using Bank of Botswana figures (see
Box 2 for details on the data collection process). Botswana appears to be in the transition
process from a net importer to a net exporter of services: while in 1996 exports were less
than half of imports, in 2005 exports were more than imports.3

3
See below for a possible explanation of why this has been the case in 2005.
14
Chart 1 Share of services in total trade by Botswana, 1990-2003

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Share of services in total export Share of services in total import

Source: UNCTAD (2006) and World Bank (2006)

Box 2. Data collection on trade in services

The source of aggregate data on trade in services is the Balance of Payments (BOP) statistics
collected by the Bank of Botswana. These data are based on foreign exchange transactions
requested to commercial banks by their customers, who are required to complete a form in which
they classify the sector the transaction belongs to. This data are likely to capture mode 1 and 2
supply of services, but not mode 3 and 4, which may be proxied by cross border investment and
remittances in the BOP (though they are not perfect measures). Since the elimination of foreign
exchange controls in 1999, there are no more obligations to declare the nature of such transactions.
This has led to additional challenges:

1. customers filling in forms for foreign exchange transactions may not have the incentive to
specify the correct sector to which the transaction belongs, or may misclassify the sector;
2. for transactions that do not involve forms filled in by the applicant (e.g. online purchase of
services – this has so far involved very few firms), there may be problems of misreporting by
the banks, which may either have no incentive in classifying the transaction accurately, or they
may not have the competence to codify it correctly;
3. in case data on the transaction reaches the Central Bank without a classification of the sector,
then the BOP staff tries to allocate the transaction to a sector on the basis of incomplete
information, which may result in inaccurate classification.

Despite possible shortcomings, these data are most reliable information available on trade in
services. Because such information is crucial to evaluate the competitiveness of the domestic
services sector, it would be important to improve the way the data is recorded and collected. There
are at least to ways in which this could be done:

- strengthening the capacity of commercial banks to record the data according to the principles
used by the Bank of Botswana (e.g. by organizing courses)
- integrating this method of collection with firms’ surveys.

15
 Table 3 Botswana's trade in services (US$ million) – interpret data with caution
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 20051

Services -602 -841 -988 -721 -1,136 -1,010 -182 -46 -204 165
Export 541 767 1,270 1,706 1,657 2,083 3,108 3,184 3,511 4,497
Import 1,143 1,609 2,258 2,427 2,793 3,093 3,290 3,230 3,715 4,332
Transport -467 -638 -693 -750 -888 -900 -1,054 -887 -977 -1,304
Export 133 138 210 251 265 308 351 342 390 434
Import 599 776 903 1,001 1,152 1,208 1,405 1,228 1,366 1,738
Travel 52 157 303 404 125 151 856 1,124 1,282 1,428
Export 310 495 903 1,083 1,134 1,345 2,019 2,261 2,578 2,871
Import 258 337 600 679 1,009 1,193 1,163 1,137 1,296 1,444
Other services -188 -361 -599 -375 -373 -261 16 -284 -509 -34
Export 98 135 156 372 259 431 738 581 544 1,191
Import 286 496 755 747 632 692 722 865 1,053 1,150
1.. Revised estimates
Source: BoB

Table 4 provides a more detailed analysis of the composition of other services sector is
helpful in identifying the main contributors to trade in services other than tourism and
transport. It shows that “other services” is growing. “Other Services” has experienced a
structural deficit throughout the period except in 2005, when extraordinary one-off service
exports related to mining exploration have led to a surplus.

16
 Table 4 Botswana’s trade in “other Services” (Pula ‘000) – interpret data with caution

Source 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Exports (1) 135,079 156,343 179,776 258,566 431,177 727,953 647,045 550,166 953,229
Communications 72 2,048 2,989 1,857 31,466 61,466 46,586 37,712 85,552
Construction 1,023 5,849 516 4,165 42,394 51,418 48,760 40,008 62,633
Insurance 6,132 13,962 16,702 33,463 47,357 50,084 172,960 231,578 172,812
Financial services 5,399 13,025 5,345 21,128 16,438 8,612 11,506 17,266 23,175
Computer services 61 171 49 109 2,278 11,043 8,193 1,778 5,376
Royalties & lic. Fees 383 730 116 0 33 2,906 16,927 25,612 2,328
Merchanting 392 0 0 0 584 98 0 0 1,825
Leasing 676 718 512 905 2,508 6,713 2,006 2,367 3,398
Legal, accounting,
management, etc 2,287 897 3,205 8,634 12,245 62,104 17,690 20,576 34,239
Advertising, mkt
research, etc. 145 517 442 2,618 3,097 2,307 4,873 5,079 7,669
Research &
development 1,196 2,559 2,422 4,914 6,295 6,587 14,498 17,956 10,439
Architect, engineering,
tech. services etc 8,182 31,167 21,395 69,036 41,900 52,991 12,037 18,944 15,780
Agr., mining, etc 15,398 4,258 2,972 2,831 1,856 8,708 67,287 43,843 464,305
Other business services 9,001 17,926 18,227 11,769 44,046 84,133 123,840 61,659 240,908
Govt services nie 84,731 62,517 104,886 97,137 178,682 318,785 99,883 25,788 2,159

Imports (2) 495,829 755,157 716,042 636,766 692,274 726,038 864,830 1,052,953 963,565
Communications (2) 5,774 12,968 12,121 54,167 24,342 38,494 70,695 99,778 181,338
Construction (2) 2,486 8,923 57,768 10,089 45,689 48,818 40,577 49,791 52,115
Insurance (2) 62,315 67,409 80,460 93,359 78,967 90,024 106,567 191,067 134,963
Financial services (2) 8,576 14,142 17,934 14,161 18,384 19,949 27,390 26,688 14,545
Computer services (2) 1,148 1,261 9,207 13,407 25,271 23,886 30,131 33,654 30,015
Royalties & lic. fees (2) 11,951 36,022 29,640 29,474 50,718 53,408 58,375 51,556 60,545
Merchanting (2) 340 0 31 0 0 589 2,157 15,443 0
Leasing (2) 26,632 16,212 38,893 31,680 27,653 25,261 15,421 65,059 12,209
Legal, accounting,
management, etc (2) 26,620 36,758 50,344 52,938 54,740 52,629 34,198 51,995 83,883
Advertising, mkt
research, etc (2) 5,992 10,708 9,602 6,232 12,398 10,762 8,168 9,013 20,154
Research &
development (2) 221 325 298 1,060 2,573 1,990 2,345 42,162 15,446
Architect, engineering,
tech. services etc (2) 191,050 385,711 211,585 119,207 154,961 150,052 174,397 153,043 66,523
Agr., mining, etc (2) 148 183 442 203 9,189 8,094 1,408 122,518 149,259
Other business services (2) 132,062 139,846 183,979 158,846 181,992 176,646 288,490 97,302 226,170
Govt diplomatic
expenditure abroad (3) 20,480 24,570 13,622 45,378 0 21,627 0 487 0
Govt. services nie (2) 35 118 118 6,565 5,396 3,809 4,509 43,396 20,930

wiyt

Notes: It is very difficult to measure trade in services, so some of the data should be interpreted with caution –
the total values of imports and exports for 2005 differ from the figures in Table 3, as the latter are revised
estimates.
(1) Foreign currency purchases reported by banks - see S/S: Srcedocs\FrmA&S
(2) Foreign currency sales reported by banks - see S/S: Srcedocs\FrmA&S
(3) MFDP Cash Flow Unit
Source: Bank of Botswana
17
The increase in services trade, however, has not been sufficient for Botswana to diversify
away from its dependence on minerals (e.g. as Mauritius did in the case of sugar starting in
the late 1970s and textiles starting in the 1990s). Indeed, the recent slowdown in GDP growth
appears to be driven by low growth in non-mining sectors, and trade, hotels and restaurants
in particular.4

2.2 Mode 3 and 4 supply of services

Mode 3 and 4 trade in services are important for the development of the services sector in
Botswana. These modes of supply are more difficult to record and therefore to assess. FDI
has been playing an increasingly important role in the promotion of crucial service sectors
(mode 3 imports of services), such as business, financial services and tourism, including in
the development of exports (e.g. Barclays recently chose Botswana as the headquarter of its
accounting operations for the entire Africa, but then relocated see Box 3), and FDI has also
helped to increase increasing competition, which provides an important incentive to enhance
the efficiency of sectors, which are crucial input provides for the economy as a whole (e.g. IT
and telecommunications, energy distribution, transport). Moreover, they may provide a fast
track to transfer of technology, capital and know-how in skill-intensive sectors.

Botswana’s attractiveness for FDI and its potential to diversify its economy is affected by a
number of factors including trade in services regulations in mode 3 and 4 supply. For
instance, UNCTAD (2003) reports that there are increasing difficulties in employing
expatriates through hindrances in obtaining work permits. Therefore an analysis of mode 4
services trade (to deliver services temporarily both into Botswana and out of Botswana, most
likely into the region) will also be important. Moreover, as highlighted by various analyses,
the country seems to lack specific skills for the development of certain services sectors.
Therefore temporary migration may be an important tool to address such skill gaps
effectively.

Lefko-Everett (2004) finds that migration policies (which tend to underpin rules and
regulations for temporary migration) have evolved from being very open to migration
supporting the economic boom, to much less open more recently faded with refugees from
Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe (who can cross the border relatively easily) and as she
argues with apparent less need for foreign skills due to the location policy. Data in Table 5
confirm a downward trend in the number of work permits granted by the Botswana
immigration office in the last few years. Between 1999 and 2004 the total number of work
permits has halved with reductions for all major source countries (South Africa, Britain,
Zimbabwe, Zambia, India and Sri Lanka). As this declining trend involves workers from all
nationalities, including those which are likely to have increased their labour supply to
Botswana (e.g. Zimbabwe and Zambia), it is likely that government restrictions may have led
to fewer work permits. This is also in line with evidence of an increasing attention by policy-
makers on the number of foreigners employed in the public services. Restrictions on work
permits are particularly harmful for services sectors with a severe shortage of specialized
skills.

4
See BIDPA chief Lisenda Lisenda, Daily news “Non-mining sector performs below par”, February 2006.
18
 Table 5 Work Permits by Nationality, Botswana 1996–2004

Nationality 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
South Africa 3,084 3,437 3,408 3,539 3,152 2,365 1,946 1,380 1,308
Zimbabwe 2,717 2,627 2,384 2,575 2,394 1,964 1,694 1,177 1,956
Zambia 609 635 608 637 562 459 428 321 383
Malawi 262 266 266 269 226 174 152 109 126
Ghana 293 293 347 208 158 143 109 64 56
Other Africa 555 588 598 1,591 853 744 630 462 559
British 1,771 1,672 1,422 1,039 905 798 664 466 401
Other Europe 863 831 727 1,058 662 506 414 309 276
Indian Sub- 1,578 1,846 1,866 1,290 1,299 1,183 992 720 863
Continent
China 445 548 689 799 846 681 513 335 605
Other Asia 120 145 160 833 594 611 509 363 457
Other & Not 412 447 386 299 28 174 163 120 137
Stated
Total 12,709 13,335 12,861 14,137 11,879 9,802 8,214 5,826 7,127
Source: CSO labour statistics

The value of services supplied through temporary migration is not available from official
statistics, so we need to use proxies. One proxy for imports is the number of work permits
issues by Botswana (as in Table 5). Another, more crude indicator, is total migration, and
Table 6 presents bilateral stocks of migrants in Southern Africa, and Table 7 migrants from
Southern African countries to the EU and US.

Table 6 Estimated migrant population, selected SADC countries

Origin Countries
Destination Botswana Lesotho Malawi Mozambiq South Swaziland Other Total % of
countries -ue Africa SADC immigrants destination
country
population
Botswana 1 137 1 603 13 001 243 22 554 38 538 2.5%
Lesotho 266 266
Malawi 77 77
Mozambique
South Africa 58 458 489 862 25 083 634 997 189 599 671 863 2 069 861 4.8%
Swaziland 171 171
Total 58 972 490 999 26 685 634 997 13 001 189 842 694 417
emigrants
% of origin 3.8% 26.3% 0.2% 3.4% 0.0% 16.2% 0.5%
country
population

Notes: the gaps in the table do not indicate there is no migration is occurring between those
countries, but rather that adequate data sources to base an estimate upon cannot be obtained. In
addition, the table represents only inter-SADC migration, and is thus an under-estimate of total
migration numbers. Because of the lack of data, we are thus forced to proceed using what is to some
extent an incomplete estimate of regional migration patterns.
Source: http://cgap.org/SAfricaRemittances/2.html

19
Table 7 Southern African migrants to Europe and US 1995-2000 (annual flows)

Average annual
To Europe USA Total Population emigration rate
% 1995-2000
South Africa 10825 2323 13148 41402390 0.03
Mauritius 2700 54 2754 1159730 0.24
Angola 2056 82 2138 12401580 0.02
Zimbabwe 1653 275 1928 12153850 0.02
Zambia 584 213 796 9665710 0.01
Namibia 607 26 633 1681820 0.04
Madagascar 584 37 621 14592380 0
Malawi 514 55 569 9884000 0.01
Comoros 290 2 291 530820 0.05
Mozambique 221 45 266 16965000 0
Botswana 208 14 222 1614190 0.01
Seychelles 52 14 66 78850 0.08
Swaziland 18 13 31 990530 0
Lesotho 15 8 22 1978090 0
Others 59
Total 20385 3158 23484 125098940 0.02
Source: Black, Richard, 'Migration and pro poor policy in Africa, Working Paper C6, Sussex Centre for
migration research, November 2004

Another proxy for mode 4 supply of services is remittances and compensation of employees
abroad. Botswana currently receives $US 38.9mn in remittances from abroad.

Table 8 Importance of remittance flows for Botswana

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Workers remittances and compensation of
employees, paid (US$mn) 147.00 139.00 144.00 205.60 205.60
Workers' remittances and compensation
of employees, received (US$mn) 26.00 26.00 27.00 38.90 38.90
Source: http://sima-ext.worldbank.org/query/

Regarding measuring mode 3 trade, FDI patterns are available at the crude sector level, so it
is difficult to disentangle movements in specific service sectors. However, it is interesting to
note the fall in FDI inflows in the nineties as compared to the eighties, which has produced a
decrease in the inward stock of FDI in 2002, but recovering in 2003 and 2004 (Table 9). The
fall in FDI inflows has several explanations: relative loss of attractiveness to foreign
investments (as other developing countries have recently opened up to FDI, while Botswana
has not in relative terms and it has not carried out any major privatization operation), the
development of a deep capital market which allows foreign firms to finance their investments
through non-FDI forms, such as loans (or equity capital) in the domestic market (UNCTAD
2003 and Siphambe 2003).

On the other hand outward FDI has risen, making Botswana a net provider of FDI. The major
driver of such outward expansion is mining through the growth in equity participation of
Debswana into De Beers. The service sector does not appear to play any significant role in
explaining the country’s outward FDI, confirming the relatively small size of firms in this
sector by international standards.
20
Table 9 Botswana FDI flows and stocks (US$ million)

Inflows Inward Outflows Outward

stock stock
1980 111.6 698.3 2.3 440.0
1990 95.9 1,309.3 7.4 447.2
1994 -14.2 998.5 9.5 484.5
1999 36.6 1,387.3 1.5 596.9
2000 57.3 1,821.0 2.3 517.0
2001 30.8 1,388.5 381.4 866.0
2002 404.6 854.1 43.0 1,023.7
2003 417.9 1,280.1 206.2 1,446.7
2004 391 982 -39 950
2005 346 1084 57 791
Source: UNCTAD (2006)

Mining is the largest recipient of inward FDI, although its share in total FDI has been
decreasing while that of the services sectors increased. This reallocation of FDI is due in part
to the divesture of one of the largest mining companies in Botswana (BCL)5, and in part due
to the increasing inflows of foreign investments in particular in finance, and to a lesser extent
hospitality (linked to the tourism industry). The role of retail and wholesale sector in
attracting FDI is also important, while transport & communications and utilities have
increased their weight marginally. Overall services captured 36% of the total FDI stock in
2004 and 90% of non-mining foreign investments. Despite the fact that the increased inflows
of FDI in services may not be sufficient to offset the fall in mining investments, these data
confirm that services is a crucial sector to achieve the diversification needed for balanced
development and continued growth in Botswana. However, there is little or no FDI related to
new services priority areas such as the knowledge hub or the air cargo hub.

Chart 2 Stock of foreign direct investment, by sector, 2000–2004

79.3%
30%
59.3%
25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
M ining Finance Retail M anufacturing Transpo rt, Real Est. & Ho spitality Utilities Co nstructio n Other
sto rage & B us. Ser.
co mm.

2000 2004

Source: Bank of Botswana, Annual Reports.

5
Bank of Botswana (2002)
21
The divesture in some mining investment seems to be the major cause for the changes in the
relative weights of FDI by source as well. South Africa has ceased to be the dominant source
of FDI for Botswana, replaced by Europe, which has increased its share due to De Beers
investments (through the Luxembourg branch) as well as due to some investment in the
financial sector (mainly large British banks, such as Barclays and Standard Chartered) – see
Table 10. Further data matching sectors and source of FDI is warranted in order to
understand the potential role of external (intra-SACU, intra-SADC and extra regional)
regulation of FDI flows in promoting services development in Botswana. Table 11 shows the
major foreign direct investors in Botswana: UK firms appear to dominate investments in
services (finance, construction and trade), while South African firms are more oriented to
industrial activities.

Table 10 FDI level by source (%)

2000 2004
Europe 36.9% 74.1%
Africa 61.0% 23.2%
South Africa 60.9% 20.9%
Middle East 1.0% 1.3%
Americas 1.0% 0.6%
Asia Pacific 0.1% 0.6%
Other 0.0% 0.1%
Total (in P millions) 9,826 4,204
Source: Bank of Botswana Annual Reports

Table 11 Main foreign firms investing in Botswana (see www.unctad.org)

22
3 Overview of measures affecting trade in services in Botswana
Trade in services and the development of a service sector in general can be affected by a
number of factors (Velde 2006). These include

• external constraints (i.e. international trade in services agreements), section 3.1

• domestic regulatory and institutional framework, (section 3.2) and
• supply-side, or domestic capacity constraints (section 3.3).

This section provides a general overview of external constraints, the main focus of the report,
for the service sectors in general with in depth discussions for selected sectors at a later stage.
As external constraints do not operate in a vacuum, we will also briefly describe potentially
relevant constraints posed by domestic regulation and supply-side factors, also on the basis of
the analysis of existing official documents.

3.1. International services trade policy

Botswana is member of WTO and of a series of regional agreements, including the Southern
Africa Customs Union (SACU) Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the
African Union/African Economic Community, in which all the other SACU countries also
participate.6 Negotiations with the EU and US are also ongoing and these could also include
services provisions. Botswana's capacity to negotiate trade agreements bilaterally is further
curtailed by the 2002 SACU Agreement. Botswana’s trade policy is clearly linked to these
regions, particularly for trade in goods, although the regulation of trade in services has been
more limited so far.

GATS7

Botswana has been cautious in making GATS commitments, such as granting national
treatment and market access to foreign firms in scheduled sectors. Due to the positive list
approach, Botswana were free to commit fewer or more sectors. These commitments tend to
be less permissive than the actual regulatory practices in order for the countries to “keep the
options open” (OECD 2005), though this does not take into account the potential benefits
Botswana may obtain through a more predictable framework. Table 12 shows Botswana’s
commitments, which cover a few professional business services (architecture, engineering,
medical, dental, and veterinary services; computer and related services, such as consultancy,
software implementation, and data-base services; research and development; and real estate)
and two tourism-related activities (hotels and restaurants, and travel agencies and tour
operators). Measures affecting supply of computer services through commercial presence
were generally either unbound, or subject to the requirement that foreign companies must be
allowed to practice in their home country, and that qualifications of foreign nationals must be
recognized by the appropriate Botswana body. Botswana made no commitments on supply
of services by temporary movement of people, and generally on cross-border trade, requiring
in some instances that the service be supplied through commercial presence by a supplier
who meets all residency requirements, such as for real estate services (WTO 2003b).

6
Botswana ratified the SADC Trade Protocol on 7 January 1998 and the SADC Amendment Protocol on 1
December 2000 (signed 10 November 2000).
7
See appendix 7 for a standard introduction to GATS issues.
23
Botswana did not participate in the extended GATS negotiations on basic
telecommunications (Fourth Protocol) or on financial services (Fifth Protocol). The
telecommunications regulatory authority (BTA) was not convinced that joining the WTO
Basic Telecommunications Agreement would offer immediate benefits to Botswana. Despite
the market liberalisation in 1996, the telecommunication sector is a de facto monopoly,
dominated by the only fixed-line voice services provider BTC (Botswana
Telecommunications Company).

Table 12 GATS commitments by Botswana

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total
In schedule? X X X 3
Note: 1) business services, 2) communication services, 3) construction and related engineering services, 4)
distributional services, 5) educational services, 6) environmental services, 7) financial services, 8) health related
and social services, 9) travel related services, 10) recreational, cultural and sporting services, 11) transport
services, and 12) other services.
Source: GATS schedules

Botswana has also imposed a few horizontal limits related to Mode 3 supply of services
(FDI). Botswana has two types of limitation to market access (authorization requirement and
local employment requirements) and one to national treatment (restrictions on remittances),
which is in line with the average limitations of other Sub-Saharan countries, except
Mauritius, which has more restrictions. OECD (2005) notes that while Botswana imposes
some form of restrictions on land ownership for foreign nationals, it has not recorded this in
the GATS commitments.

In the framework of GATS, the EC has requested Botswana to make commitments regarding
business services, construction and engineering services, environmental services and tourism
services, in addition to the requests relating to horizontal commitments and financial and
telecommunications services (the full details of this are given in the Appendix 1).8

African Regional Trade Agreements and Trade in Services

The regional market may provide a crucial dimension in order for Botswana to develop a
successful services export sector. Its core region SACU, which also includes South Africa,
Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho, and the larger SADC region offer significant markets that
could be reached by services producers based in Botswana, exploiting the comparative
advantage the country enjoys in terms of infrastructure, governance and capital availability
and possibly certain skills. Such advantages may not be as important for trade in goods where
high transportation costs may be a more relevant hurdle to export. Therefore it seems
important to assess the extent to which regulations at the level of SACU and SADC may
facilitate the development of trade in services. The Trade Policy Review by the WTO
Secretariat on SACU (WTO 2003a) states:

“Export opportunities in the services sector remain largely unexploited, other than in South
Africa and to some extent in Botswana and Namibia. In tourism, for example, where
SACU's attractions are among the best in Africa, inadequacies in infrastructure and
marketing/promotion, financial constraints, and lack of skilled labour have constrained the
development of the sub-sector. Further liberalization and investment in services, in general,

8
The commitments on financial services were also requested by the US and a few other countries.
24
should improve the efficiency of other economic activities and the competitiveness of
SACU's exports, especially by reducing costs related to, inter alia, telecommunications,
transport, and energy.” It might be important to understand rules and regulation on trade in
services at the level of SACU.
SADC regulates services through sectoral protocols on various sectors, including energy,
tourism, transport, communications and meteorology. The aim of these protocols is to
integrate infrastructure and harmonise procedures throughout the region in sectors considered
of crucial importance for the development of the member countries. Specific goals and
objectives of the protocols under infrastructure and services agreement are reported in
Appendix 3.

A SADC Draft Annex on Trade in Services has also been under discussion. The project will
need a discussion of services provisions (incl. external constraints) and opportunities for
services exports at the level of SADC.

Given the importance of the SADC region for the trade in services for Botswana, it is clearly
in the interest of the country to actively participate in the evolution of the SADC agreement
on trade in services. This is also coupled with the determination of competition policy, which
in certain services sectors, such as retail and distribution, could be implemented in
cooperation with the rest of SADC in order to be effective (UNCTAD 2003). There are
examples of South African firms setting up marketing or distribution companies in
Botswana, charging much higher prices than in South Africa, and making it impossible for
importers in Botswana to import directly.

We refer to SADC rather than SACU as the main regional forum for negotiating trade
agreement in services for Botswana for two reasons. One is that SADC is a larger and
potentially more important regional market for Botswana, as it includes relevant traed in
services partners of Botswana, such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola and Malawi. The other
reason is that there are currently no services provisions in SACU, while the SADC Draft
Annex on services is already a reference document in SADC that eventual negotiations in
trade in services can build on. However this does not mean that Botswana may not have an
interest in pursuing the trade in services agreement at the SACU level, especially if this could
act as a fast track decision-making forum to regulate trade in services in the whole region.

Economic Partnership Agreements and trade in services

Botswana is also currently engaged in trade negotiations at the regional level (with SADC) in
the context of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with the European
Union. The outcome of such negotiations may have some impact on the potential
development of Botswana’s services sector, by inducing the liberalisation of (some) sectors
to imports from the EU or by including complementary measures.

Te Velde et al. (2004) review the following main provisions on services in the Cotonou
Partnership Agreement, which should be taken into account by an EPA:

• Extending EPAs to encompass the liberalisation of services in accordance with provisions

of GATS (Cotonou Partnership Agreement, Art. 41.4).
• Reaffirmation of GATS commitments (Art. 41.2), progressive liberalisation (Art. 41.3)
and EC support for ACP export capacity and it mentions the following sectors
specifically: labour (i.e. mode 4), business, distribution, finance, tourism, culture and
construction (41.5).
• The need for Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) for ACP suppliers (41.2 and 41.3).
25
• Special sectors: Maritime Transport (Art. 42), ICT/ Telecommunications (Art. 43),
Tourism (Art. 24), Cultural services (Art. 27).

Whatever the trade contents of EPA negotiations, there is the need to discuss support
measures for the service sectors. If there is a services component to an EPA, then there will
also be a need for additional (SDT) measures, but it is not clear whether they need to be
purely trade-related, or whether they can also be support measures (cf. Art. 34) additional to
planned support. Conversely, the ACP needs to ensure that existing support by the EU in the
ACP services is not used to force through EPA negotiations in services.

There are at least four ways forward for EPA services negotiations for ACP countries (and in
general for ACP countries):

1. No services agreement. Restatement of partnership character as in CPA Art. 41.4.

Channelling of current EDF resources to strengthen ACP capacity in the supply of
services related to labour, business, distribution, finance, tourism, culture and
construction and related engineering services (CPA Art. 41.5).
2. No services agreement, with some SDT options, such as additional resources, to satisfy
41.2 allowing for SDT of Botswana.
3. Limited services agreement. No Botswana commitments beyond GATS (CPA Art. 41.2),
but with (significant) new EU commitments and inclusion of other SDT options while
possible services EPAs satisfy the requirements of GATS Art. V. as well as SDT in CPA
Arts 41.2 and 41.5.
4. Advanced services agreement, with both Botswana and EU participating and giving more
commitments than under GATS.

In order to minimise trade diversion following an EPA, it is crucial not to give preferential
access to EU services suppliers in sectors where third country suppliers hold a comparative
advantage at the global level. Jansen (2006) argues that countries in Southern Africa may
gain from including the financial sector and the tourism sector in the EPA negotiations. Te
Velde (2005a) argues that ACP regions may include mode 4, as ACP countries, including
Botswana, may have a potential to export services in this mode (and trade diversion is also
less of a problem for this mode). And it could be easier to negotiate such sensitive issues at a
regional level. Trade flows in general and tourism in particular would benefit from an open
skies agreement between the African and the European region, but such an agreement seems
unlikely to be concluded in the near future. Because of its strategic position at the heart of the
Southern African region and its relatively developed financial sector, Botswana could
particularly benefit from a regional liberalisation of tourism and finance to EU imports. This
may help the country become a regional hub in such services.

The EPA may combine a trade in services agreement with technical assistance from the
European Union towards the sectors and/or modes that are subject to negotiations. Jansen
(2006) believes that such assistance could be important to improve domestic regulation and
capacity in both financial (e.g.: strengthening prudential regulation) and tourism sector (e.g.
improving environmental regulation, enhancing the supply and the quality of accommodation
and of marketing efforts), and with respect to mode 4 (e.g. creating the legal and institutional
set-up to ensure that only adequately qualified service providers move abroad and to ensure
that their stays in host countries are temporary). For Botswana, which is not a major recipient
of aid it might try to get support top get its training and education systems sufficiently geared
towards the services sectors.

26
For other services sectors, in particular telecommunication and certain transport and business
services, multilateral liberalisation seems to be more appropriate than a regional approach, as
the EU does not appear to be the most efficient provider of these services (Jansen 2006).
However, there needs to be an evaluation of whether an EPA with only limited services
sectors’ coverage is consistent with the condition in GATS that regional agreements ought to
have ‘substantial sectoral coverage’.

27
3.2. Domestic regulatory and institutional framework
External official reports (e.g. UNCTAD, 2003; OECD, 2005; WTO, 2003b) generally
welcome the institutionally friendly conditions of doing business in Botswana (due to public
sector efficiency, political and economic stability, lack of corruption). As already noted this
seems to represent one of the major comparative advantages of the country and the question
is how this can be used to provide efficient and effective regulations and institutions
supportive of a competitive services sector. Moreover, services sectors are seen as an
important component of Botswana’s development strategy, see the national development
plan Vision 2016 (see Box 2). However, there are bottlenecks which need to be addressed.
While these constraints tend to relate to imports of services (through mode 3), they will have
important direct effects on exports of services (e.g. through efficient infrastructure services).
Here we present a general provisional assessment, with more findings in Monanne and
Sesinyi (2001), and more detailed discussions in selected sectors at a later stage.

Box 2 Service sectors in Vision 2016

Vision 2016 is the name of a long-term government-led project, which sets the objectives for the
country to be reached by the year 2016, when Botswana will have been an independent nation for 50
years. A presidential task group (consisting of 31 people) summarized this vision, identified the
major challenges to be met to realise the Vision, and proposed a set of strategies that will meet them
in a booklet entitled ‘A Long Term Vision For Botswana: Towards Prosperity for All’ (GoB 2004).
The diversification of the economy (“with mining, agriculture, industry, manufacturing, services and
tourism all making a substantial contribution”) is one of the major parts of the strategy described in
the document. Although there is no precise strategy set up to develop the services sector, the
document identifies some specific services sectors to be promoted alongside the challenges faced by
them and general prescriptions to address them.
1) Natural, cultural and historical, wealth of the country could be used to develop the tourist
industry, which would need further development of the “facilities of existing game reserves (such as
Chobe and Moremi), for example by privatising their management, or by allowing the private sector
to provide camps and facilities.” Botswana should also aim to increase the volume of tourism, which
should not necessarily conduct to catastrophic environmental cost. However, the environmental
sustainability of Botswana’s tourism resources needs to be carefully evaluated. “Local ownership
and capacity building must be emphasised throughout the eco-tourism industry, so that local people
have a stake in using its resources in a sustainable way.”
2) The document also promotes the idea of establishing Botswana as a banking and financial
services centre in the region, especially given the country’s advantages in terms of efficient
telecommunication, strong foreign reserves and economic stability. Moreover, “given the
importance of the development effort that will be needed in the coming decades, it will be necessary
for the banks in Botswana to be more development oriented”, departing from “the conservatism of
the past” and adding some elements of risk “if Botswana is to meet its ambitious development
targets.”
3) Transport is identified as another crucial sector to expand, given Botswana’s “central location
within the southern African sub-region, its easy access to the trans-Kalahari highway, the Maputo
corridor, and to the rest of the southern African network.” In order to be able to effectively provide
transport services to its neighbours, the internal road and rail network and local transport services
need to be improved, which would also facilitate the development of other sectors as well,
particularly tourism.
4) Finally, Botswana could shift from being an importer to being an exporter of information services
throughout the region. In order to reach that objective, “it is vital that there is an increased
investment in telephone connections and international communication through internet services”.

28
According to the Investment Policy Review (UNCTAD 2003) both foreign and domestic
investment have generally enjoyed fairly good standards of treatment and protection in
Botswana, although the country has never had a foreign investment law. FDI seems to have
had a positive impact in the development of certain services sectors, in particular the
financial sector, tourism and business services (UNCTAD 2003). Notwithstanding the good
historical record of attracting and welcoming FDI, UNCTAD (2003) identify some supply-
side constraints, which are not being properly tackled by the regulatory activity.

The UNCTAD IPR notes that such constraints in the labour market are actually aggravated
by “inappropriate policy and administrative bottlenecks” (p. 33), which set high requirements
for granting work permits, making the hiring of non-citizens fairly complicated. The rational
of such policies is a supposedly misleading belief that the employment of foreign nationals
worked as an impediment for the employment of Botswana citizens, especially given the
current substantial migratory pressure from neighbouring countries.

Competition is an area where the UNCTAD report believes the Government could be more
proactive. A well-enforced competition law is needed to ensure against powerful investors
becoming dominant and abusing market power to the detriment of consumers and industrial
customers. Perhaps one example of this is the banking sector, which is associated with high
cost on consumers with disappointing speed of basic operation.

A related issue concerns the relatively large presence of state owned monopolies in several
services sectors, such as fixed telephone (Botswana Telecommunication Corporation to be
privatised), energy distribution (Botswana Power Corporation), postal services (Botswana
Post), railway (Botswana Railway) and air transport (Air Botswana, to be privatised). Some
suggest that such monopolies are imposing high costs on the provision of these services,
although the infrastructure system in place works efficiently, and we need to gather more
specific information. The government has stated its objectives to privatise and liberalise
several sectors of the economy9.

OECD (2005) confirms UNCTAD report’s view of a sound economic climate in Botswana,
with no significant general limitations on FDI entry (except for the minimum investment
requirements), including no limitations on foreign purchases of shares, and on transfer of
profits and of proceeds of liquidation. However, some restrictions are imposed that affect
services activities, including sectoral, land acquisition and post-entry legal restrictions.

Sectoral restrictions
There are restrictions on entry on specific services sectors, some in line with the general
government objective to “encourage local empowerment” others simply for reasons to
protect consumers in that sector. For example, foreigners wishing to invest in banks and
insurance must obtain a specific license for prudential purposes. Foreign investment is
prohibited in those sectors dominated by small and medium enterprises, including hawking
and vending, butchery and fresh produce general trading, petrol filling stations, bottle stores
(liquor stores), bars other than those related to hotel establishments, chibuku (traditional
beer) bars, village type restaurant take-aways including restaurants with licences to sell
alcoholic beverages, supermarkets (excluding chain stores and franchise operations), small
shops such as clothing boutiques and shoe shops and miscellaneous, mail carriage, purchase

9
Last year ,the government has decided to privatise BTC and liberalise the fixed telephone market
(Government of Botswana 2006, see also Box 11), and the government has been receiving offers for the
privatisation of the national airline (Business Day 2006).
29
of furniture by local authorities and government, procurement of uniforms, to government,
local authorities and parastatals.

Land acquisition restrictions

The acquisition of real estate by foreigners linked to FDI is also restricted. There are three
categories of land in Botswana: tribal land, state land and freehold land. Freehold land can be
used for business purposes. Tribal and state lands can be used for business purposes through
leases (and it can in some cases be converted to freehold land). Tribal land is usually
allocated for short-term leases or permits (less than ten years) and may not be used as
collateral for a loan. State land can be converted to long-term leasehold or freehold title that
can be registered and pledged. No agricultural land can be transferred to non-citizens of
Botswana, or companies that are majority foreign-owned, without ministerial approval and
subject to zoning requirements. Ministerial approval is also required for foreign investors, but
not national investors, to enter into arrangements to put tribal land to commercial use (zoning
requirements).

Post-entry legal restrictions

Foreign investors do not have access to a class of incentives aimed at citizen-owned
contracting firms and small enterprises, defined as those involving investments of less than
US$ 15,000.

Although foreign participation in the privatisation process is generally welcomed, the

Ministry of Finance and Development Planning has stated that "restrictions may need to be
imposed on foreign participation in certain companies for strategic or other reason that will
be considered on a case-by-case basis”.

Small government building projects, up to US$ 25,000, maintenance and minor building
works of government properties, road contracts and railway maintenance – fencing, reserve
and draining, culvert construction, transport and plant hire, clearing and scrubbing bush, road
marking, carting gravel, bridge painting, stock piling of material – are reserved for nationals
of Botswana.

Foreign-owned companies are required to make an effort to employ or promote nationals of

Botswana to jobs at the middle and senior management level.

Institutional set-up
Box 3 describes the main organisations involved in the promotion of trade in services.

30
Box 3 Botswana’s institutional set-up for promoting trade in services

In order to promote trade, industry and service sector, Botswana has developed organizational
infrastructure both within public and private sectors.

Within the public sector, Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA) was
created as an autonomous body in 1997 to promote the industrialisation process of Botswana in
order to diversify the economic base away from diamonds and beef. BEDIA has been promoting
exports in various countries such as South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Zambia etc. by organising
exhibitions and among others have also played meaningful role in developing global trade relations
and has developed a guide for IT highlighting opportunities in the sector. BEDIA has also
established overseas offices in South Africa and UK. The Board of Directors of BEDIA mainly
comes from the private sector, while the organization is funded by Government subvention.

The institutional infrastructure of the private sector is centered around four organisations:

a) Exporters Association of Botswana (EOAB) is a non-governmental trade organisation which acts

to facilitate global trade and enhance economic growth and diversification from traditional exports
to non-traditional exports (manufactured goods and services). The Association has 70 members, the
majority of which are exporters of goods (only ten are involved in services), but lacks adequate
financial resources to operate, most of which comes from BEDIA. Amongst their members,
transport & freight companies such as IDS couriers, Swift Freight Co., Botswana Export Credit
Insurance and Export House Botswana are examples of successful exporting service firms. These
firms are exporting their services to South Africa, Zimbabwe, United States and European Union.

b) Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) is an association of

business community mainly employers representing all sectors of the economy in an advocacy
capacity. It was established in 1988 from another association (Botswana Employers Federation).
BOCCIM is a large association (over 1,600 members) with a wide sectoral representation.
Seventeen sectoral committees have been formed, of which 7 sectors fall within GATS categories.

c) Botswana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). The government pursued the business
sector and even offered both technical and financial support in reviving the BCCI, even establishing
its secretariat with full time staff but due to lack of interest the chamber could not operate as desired.
The chamber is being upheld by a single enthusiastic businessman, who is its National Treasurer.

d) Junior Chamber Botswana (JCB) has been in formal existence since 1988 and affiliated to Junior
Chamber International (JCI), a World Wide Federation for young professionals and entrepreneurs
between the ages of 18 and 40 years. Its mandate is to contribute to the advancement of the global
community by providing the opportunity for young people to develop the leadership skills, social
responsibility, entrepreneurship and fellowship necessary to create positive change. Most of its
services are service oriented, which are export-based services in different sectors of economy.

31
3.3. Domestic supply capacity for trade in services

Botswana may have the potential to become a hub in the supply of services at the regional
level (which provides a rationale for pursuing regional trade in services negotiations), such as
SADC. Much will depend on the domestic capacity and the comparative advantages of
Botswana in relation to its regional neighbours.

Governance
Botswana enjoys a clear comparative advantage over its SACU and SADC partners in
governance, as it is evident from Table 13, which shows various World Bank indicators,
ranging from political stability to the enforcement of the rule of law. No other SACU
member scores higher than Botswana in any indicator of governance. Within the SADC
region only Mauritius scores higher than Botswana in 2 indicators. These results are
confirmed by other reports, such as the Africa Competitiveness Report, which considers
Botswana to have the most stable political environment of the whole Africa, and
Transparency International, which ranked Botswana as the African country with the lowest
perception of corruption since 1999. Such high standards of governance are among the
reasons which induced Moody’s and S&P to recently assign the country investment-grade
ratings. A major question is whether Botswana can use this to develop effective and efficient
institutions and regulations to support the services sectors.

Table 13 Governance Indicators, selected Southern African countries (2004)

Political Government Regulatory Rule of Control of

stability effectiveness quality law corruption
Botswana 0.70 0.83 0.96 0.73 0.86
Lesotho 0.27 -0.33 -0.26 -0.03 -0.05
Namibia 0.46 0.29 0.45 0.22 0.18
South Africa -0.24 0.74 0.44 0.32 0.48
Swaziland 0.23 -0.60 -0.36 -0.95 -0.95
Mauritius 0.91 0.60 0.33 0.84 0.33
Mozambique -0.15 -0.39 -0.29 -0.60 -0.79
Zambia -0.16 -0.84 -0.49 -0.54 -0.74
Zimbabwe -1.86 -1.20 -2.15 -1.53 -1.01
Note that the units of measure range from about -2.5 to 2.5, with higher values corresponding to better
governance outcomes.
Source: World Bank

Capital availability
Such high rating is also related to the availability of capital in Botswana, given the relatively
high rate of domestic savings (UNCTAD 2003), which allows raising capital for investment
without resorting to international markets. This represents a potential major advantage for
both domestic and foreign investors both in and outside financial services.

ICT infrastructure
Botswana enjoys a relative good position in ICT infrastructure at least within SACU. In
terms of quality and access to ICT the country performs better than Lesotho, Namibia and
Swaziland, and is close to South Africa, which on the other hand has the highest prices of
ICT in southern Africa. At the SADC level Mauritius enjoys an ICT advantage in terms of
access, quality and price. Instead Botswana seems to lag behind countries in the same group

32
 in terms of economic development (upper-middle income), although this group includes
countries which are mostly in other geographical areas. The real concern for Botswana in
terms of regional competition appears to be related to the high price of its ICT services,
especially for international long distance telephone calls. This would require a closer analysis
of the telecommunications sector in the country, and in particular regulations concerning
long-distance calls and access to broadband.

Table 14 ICT indicators, selected southern African countries (2004)

Up.-Mid.
South
Botswana Lesotho Mozambique Mauritius Namibia Swaziland SSA Inc.
Africa
group
Access
Tel. main lines per 1,000 people 79 20 4 287 63 42 104 17 220
International voice traffic (min. per
person) 64 83 57 38 40 39
Mobile subscribers per 1,000 people 348 94 47 505 111 129 471 86 490
Population covered by mobile
telephony (%) 85 80 99 88 90 96 84
Internet users (per 1,000 people) 25 17 5 146 39 24 81 15 133
Personal computers (per 1,000
people) 41 8 4 176 95 27 88 12 99
Quality
International Internet bandwidth
(bits per person) 23 1 1 146 4 1 29 4 176
Affordability
Price basket for fixed line (US$ per
month, residential) 11.3 18.6 16.5 7.4 15.8 8.3 21.6 8.5 13.9
Price basket for mobile (US$ per
month) 11.1 14.3 10.9 4.8 14.7 16.6 13.5 13.5 11.1
Price basket for Internet (US$ per
month) 27 43.4 40.8 15 33.4 20.6 33.3 54.8 20.8
Price of call to United States (US$
per 3 minutes) 2.88 3.28 1.17 1.67 2.97 0.79 2.43 1.03
Source: World Bank - ICT at a glance

Education
Botswana’s workforce is generally well educated, especially given the country enjoys high
levels of secondary education relatively to its neighbours (Table 15), except for Mauritius,
whose secondary enrolment rates are similar to OECD countries.

Table 15: Net enrolment rates (%) in Southern Africa (2004)

Primary Secondary Tertiary

Botswana 82.1 60.9 6.2
Lesotho 85.9 23.1 2.8*
Mauritius 95.1 79.6 17.2
Namibia 73.7* 37.4* 6.1*
South Africa 88.8* 61.7** 15.3*
Swaziland 76.7* 29.0* 5.0
Zimbabwe 81.9* 33.9* 3.7*
* data referred to 2003; ** data referred to 2000
Source: UNESCO

33
Notwithstanding the general high level of basic education, Botswana still has relatively low
rates of tertiary education (Table 15), and in particular it suffers from a deficit of specific
skills, which has emerged despite the heavy investment of the country in education
(UNCTAD 2003). Arguably, the education system was biased from the country’s
independence towards the need of the public sector, neglecting some of the skills needed by
the private sectors. Moreover, the rapid pace of the structural change of the economy has
impeded the educational system to match the needs of the various sector of the economy;
finally, the high incidence of HIV/AIDS is clearly exacerbating the skill deficit. FDI has been
an important source of the types of skill lacking in the economy, through the employment of
expatriates, the training of the local workforce and the movement of skilled labour from the
parent companies’ countries.

The Tertiary Education Policy document in 2005 stated that the proportion of Science and
Engineering students as percent of total tertiary students, was 37% in 1997 but in 2004 only
23% of the University of Botswana’s full-time undergraduate enrolments were enrolled in the
science, engineering and technology disciplines.

Land
Land acquisition seems to represent a problem for domestic companies as well, as the
serviced industrial and commercial land is scarcely available and it takes long period to be
allocated an industrial or commercial plot.10

Physical infrastructure
Although transport in trade in services may not be as important as in trade in goods
(particularly for mode 1 supply of services), the relatively high transportation costs imposed
by the country’s geography may actually constrain the ability of Botswana of developing
certain services sectors, which involve transport activities, such as distributional services.

10
These points have been emphasized by BIDPA chief Lisenda Lisenda in Daily News (2006).
34
 4 Screening and scoping

This section summarises the results of the screening and scoping part of the study (further
details in appendix 2), on which basis sectors are selected for further examination. The
results presented in this section are based on an analysis of data, secondary reports and
consultations in Gaborone and Maun. We take each GATS sector in turn and discuss each
sector on each of the following factors:

• Current or potential capacity to trade, particularly exporting from Botswana (e.g. tourism,
professional services or IT enabled services). Trade policies will have greater effect if
current capacity is greater.

• Direct and indirect effects on GDP and development (e.g. how infrastructure or transport
type of services may affect GDP indirectly), including employment effects, which is
relevant in assessing the poverty related impact of the sector. It will be more important to
discuss policy measures for sectors with a larger effect on GDP or employment. Effects
can be direct in terms of GDP and employment (e.g. construction, tourism) or indirect
(through effects on “backbone” services – e.g. transport, communications).

• Possible importance of the effects of policy/trade measures (e.g. regional harmonization

of regulation in professional services). This will discuss whether certain key policies in
the context of a sector are likely to have an impact. However, at this stage, it will not
reflect a complete picture of all regulations governing trade in this sector.

• Views of stakeholders

o BTPP/BIDPA and government officials

o Private sector (associations etc)
o Other (utilities etc,), see appendix 5 for a list

• Complementarities with previous studies and existing knowledge (see appendix 6 for a
provisional list)

• Possible role models in other relevant developing countries.

Table 16 provides a summary of the findings in appendix 2. On this basis, we suggest to

examine the following sectors more closely in the rest of the report:

Tourism services: This is probably the most important service sector in terms of trade in
services and contribution to employment and GDP. While it is a relatively well studied
sector, there is not much detail available on Botswana’s position in trade in services
negotiations. In particular, stakeholders suggested they wanted to know what effects GATS
commitments may have had or could have in future. Because tourism is one of only few
sectors in which commitments have been made, it is the best example to explain the main
complex issues of GATS in a relatively straightforward case study. It will also have several
role models which could act as reference point.

35
Financial services, this is a good second in terms of trade, with a good position regionally,
though less important in the case of contribution to employment. It already allows foreign
firms in the banking and insurance sectors but has not bound this in GATS. There are several
studies available, however, they are not suitable in a trade in services context. In addition,
Botswana has received requests to commit the sector in GATS (from the EC). We suggest to
study the insurance sector (because of the current increase) and the banking sector. The study
could also include BPO services (strictly outside the GATS category financial services).

Box 4 Excerpts from “A NATIONAL TRADE POLICY FOR BOTSWANA: ZERO

DRAFT AND CONSULTATIONS”, BIDPA

Financial Services (trade related policies)

The establishment of supervisory and regulatory system for non-bank financial institutions;
Government should expedite the repeal of the Botswana Stock Exchange Act and its
replacement by Securities Act; Establishment of a deposit protection scheme and a national
contingency plan to support the financial system in the event of a financial crisis; Strengthening
of financial and money markets operations; Development of offshore regulation; and,Creation of
a Central Securities Depository to clear bonds and equities. Finally, Botswana should make
commitments of financial services at the GATS. This would lock in reforms that Botswana has
made in the financial sector and provide signals to potential investors that policy reversal of the
reforms made is unlikely.

Education services
Trade policy should consider the potential to increase exports of education services through,
among others, promotion of commercial establishments of education institutions, especially at
the tertiary level by local investors, foreign direct investors, joint ventures and other
arrangements. This would increase local capacity to absorb more local and foreign students;
promote education exports and reduce the import of education.

Given the potential to increase exports through commercial presence and the increasing modes
of delivery of education services e.g. e-learning, the regulatory, supervisory and surveillance
capacity should be improved to cope with the dynamism in the education sector arising from
possibilities of e-learning to ensure better consumer protection against low quality programs;

Trade policy should consider a more concerted and coordinated approach to increasing science
and engineering technology enrolment. Innovation is increasingly becoming a vital component
of competitiveness. If Botswana is to achieve export-led growth, the development of
technological capacity should be pursued vigorously.

Tourism services
Trade policy should continue to support the growth and development of the sector because it
holds potential for both income generation and employment creation for the country.

Education services: This sector is currently not so important in exports of services, but
Botswana could aim to reduce imports of services (it is in the unusual position that is
supports students’s education abroad in a major way), and hence make a bigger direct and
indirect impact on GDP and development. Of course, this would assume that Botswana can
deliver top quality education for students at the same level as where the students are currently
enrolled. One of the questions is whether and if so in what areas Botswana could aim to
become a knowledge hub. Skills are important factors in all sector and mode 4 will also play
a role, as attraction of mode 3 investors. Some developing countries have made GATS mode
36
3 commitments in the sector and attracted several business schools, other countries have been
more cautious or have had more challenging experiences regarding the scope of GATS. It
will study tertiary education in particular. There are several other countries that can act as
possible role model.

This selection of service sectors mirrors the selection in the draft national trade policy (box
4), so this analysis could underpin that document in an important way. For instance, there are
some clear suggestions and policy direction for education services which may need further
consideration, while there is an explicit demand for an analysis of trade policy options in
financial services, and an identified need to find trade policy options supportive of the
tourism sector (of which GATS may have been one).

A detailed examination of the above sectors will cover different types of measures might help
to develop trade in services in Botswana. In Te Velde (2006) we argue that there is very little
theory to understand how the services sectors can be developed. However, it is possible to
divide the constraints to further services trade into three types (as we have done in the
pervious general sectors):

• domestic regulation (e.g. inadequate financial supervision, or lack of rule effective

telecommunications regulators),
• supply side constraints, or lack of capabilities, such as inappropriate human resources
(e.g. geared to mining, rather modern ICT and Tourism), and finally
• external constraints (trade barriers).

This analysis will be done on the basis of:

• data examination (in as far possible; some data such as mode 4 trade in services might be
available through consultations with professional associations),
• key official texts (on laws and regulations),
• existing studies (e.g. BIDPA studies, diversification project and SATRN working papers
and other) and
• consultations in Botswana (located mostly in Gaborone and Maun).

This approach should lead to two key outputs:

1. The analysis of the types of constraints of trade in services will lead to the identification
of broad policy positions for Botswana in international trade in services negotiations at
the multilateral, but also the regional level, with respect to the selected sectors.

2. The application of this approach might be replicated in more detail for other key sectors
by researchers who we hope will be involved throughout the project. While there is a lot
expertise on trade and trade policy, and on services sectors, there may need to be more
capacity building in the area of what the analysis means for international trade in services
negotiations.

37
 Table 16 Summary of screening and scoping of sectors

Current capacity to Importance in GDP Importance in Possible importance of Stakeholder views Complementari Role models
trade (direct & indirect) development policy measures (external E, ties with in other
regulatory R, and supply previous developing
capacity S) studies countries
Little current capacity via Declining but substantial The only data - E: Need for MRAs to facilitate Significant interest in the There are very few India is the
mode 3; some niches for direct importance in GDP available on the market access abroad (e.g. architects) development of business studies available on main BPO
individual professionals and (3.4%). sectoral share of - E Need for understanding market process outsourcing (BPO) the sector, with a centre, but this
firms in mode 1 and 4. An The indirect contribution to employment access commitments in other activities. strong possibility of has spread to
estimated P 79m (leaving GDP is also important, as aggregates the sector countries Possible importance of enriching the African
out mining related services) the sector provides crucial with financial - R: Potential for introducing niches for developing high available countries such
1) business currently exported. inputs into business services. We regulatory framework to enhance the value added exports (e.g. information and as Mauritius,
services Problem of available competitiveness (e.g. estimate a quality of services for professions legal, architecture services), finding relevant Ghana and
capacity and comparative marketing, accounting, contribution of such as accountants, architects. although the development data. South Africa
advantage esp. wrt South legal, computer services) around 3%, with of such activities is very with exports in
Africa, from where much of most of it being - S: Need for improving skills recent. several sectors
these services are currently highly educated available, e.g. by linking formal The government has placed via mode 1 and
sourced. labour. education to on-the-job training ICT services as a priority 4.
sector in its Vision 2016.
Limited capacity in mode 3, Slightly declining and fairly We estimate a - E: Potential role for GATS General recognition of the Possibility of Only few
which is usually the main low direct importance in limited total commitments in accompanying the crucial importance of the complementing examples of
export mode for the sector. GDP (1.2% in 2005). contribution in process of liberalization sector in improving the information successful
Mobile telecommunications Crucial indirect importance employment of - E: need to evaluate the requests competitiveness of the available on GATS international
is dominated by foreign as an input for various around 1.9% (out of made to Botswana in economy. negotiations at the expansion in
owned firms. Trade is sectors (especially services) a total share of the telecommunications by other Little perceived export SADC level with the TLC sector
growing rapidly according of the economy, e.g. cost of transport and countries potential (the small size of analysis of in Africa,
2) Comm. to BoP data with imports (P telecommunications is communication - R: wave of liberalization in the the domestic market has not Botswana’s possible mainly from
Services 181m mainly through perceived to be a major sector of 3.6%), sector (TLC, VOIP), whose potential allowed to develop a negotiating options. large
foreign ownership) far constraint to the which is likely to effects need to be evaluated domestic player of developing
bigger than exports (P 85m) development of Botswana include mostly - S: need to assess the viability of the sufficient scale to export). economies, able
in 2005. as a hub in certain activities relatively skilled fiber optic cable initiative in to exploit large
(e.g. sales and reservation in labour (with some enhancing quality and accessibility of domestic
tourism, BPO). exception, e.g. in TLC services markets (South
postal services). Africa, Egypt).

38
 Current capacity to Importance in GDP Importance in Possible importance of Stakeholder views Complementari Role models
trade (direct & indirect) development policy measures (external E, ties with in other
regulatory R, and supply previous developing
capacity S) studies countries
Limited current export Important, albeit declining, It is one of the - E: requirements to participate in Little potential for exports Possibility of South Africa in
capacity with little work direct GDP contribution largest contributors public tender processes in South as the sector is already complementing the US
carried out abroad by (4.5%) to employment in Africa are fairly cumbersome dominated by large foreign information
domestic firms. However, The indirect relevance of the country, with a - R/S: Need for increasing the owned firms from South available on supply
trade in construction GDP is mainly related to the constant share of availability of skilled labour (esp. African, China and large capacity and
3) construction services is increasing, with role of construction as an over 10%, which is construction engineers), e.g. by international groups. regulatory
exports (mainly via mode 1) input for economic agents, composed of facilitating work permits’ procedures. framework with an
and eng. at P 62m in 2005 and especially government and unskilled labour - R: Potential for improving analysis of
services imports at P 52m (although households. (with potentially government procurement operations, negotiating options
data does not capture the significant effects on e.g. via better designed tenders and and domestic
large presence of foreign poverty reduction). more efficient payment system. regulation.
owned firms which should
generate imports via mode
3).
The sector facilitates trading The direct contribution to Significant impact - R: Sector largely open and Not mentioned as one with Few studies
capacity but it tends to the economy is significant on employment, liberalized, except for energy a potential to export. It is available
generate very little at around 10% (including with a contribution distribution, which is dominated by rather considered as an
international transactions, water and electricity of around 19% in Botswana Power Corporation (BPC). important input to
therefore it is not adequately distribution). total employment for - R: Potential to evaluate effects of businesses (via energy
4) recorded in BoP data. The indirect effects are also the entire commerce liberalization of the utility sector, esp. distribution).
Mode 3 trade (mainly important in that wholesale sector, including a considering that energy distribution is
distributional imports) is related to FDI in trade and retailing services possibly large one of the priority areas of SADC.
services the retail sector in Botswana has an impact on amount of unskilled
(mainly by South African households’ budget labour employed in
companies). constraint, as well as on small retailing and
business operations (mainly trading activities.
via energy distribution).

39
 Current capacity to Importance in GDP Importance in Possible importance of Stakeholder views Complementari Role models
trade (direct & indirect) development policy measures (external E, ties with in other
regulatory R, and supply previous developing
capacity S) studies countries
Botswana is a net importer The direct weight of the The contribution of - E: need to assess the potential for Much perceived potential Only the draft of one South Africa
of educational services (via sector in GDP is likely to be the sector to developing a hub for educational for the development of an study is available on and Brazil as
mode 2), with an estimate relatively low as education employment (private services educational hub in trade in educational regional hubs
import value of around P is typically a non and parastatal) is - R: need to evaluate potential impact Botswana, which would services, so an for tertiary
1bn in government commercial service in limited, albeit of opening up the sector to also reduce the large analysis may education.
expenditure, which makes Botswana (possibly increasing (2.5% in international competition (public) import of address both
education the major recorded as Non-Profit 2005). - R: assessment of the opportunity for educational services. possible domestic Caribbean
5) educational component of travel related Institutions serving an import substitution strategy regulatory and islands as
services imports. Estimates for households, whose share is - S: potential importance of international offshore
exports are around P 21.5m 2.3% in 2005). improving the supply skills available negotiating options. medical
in 2004 including living The indirect effects are of for the sector (e.g. lecturers) schools.
expenses of students. paramount importance for
the role of (tertiary)
education in creating the
skills adequate to the
economy’s needs.
No data available, but trade Small sector in the Little employment - E: relevance of external constraints Little export potential There is no formal
does not appear to be economy, the main generated directly or in accessing heavily protected identified. Some study available on
developed. Some imports contribution is indirect, indirectly (the few markets (esp. South Africa); opportunities may arise in the sector in
(mainly via mode 3 and 4) especially for the potential main firms employ - R: importance of carefully designed the cross-border Botswana. One
from South Africa. effects on tourism. directly around 20 public procurement projects; management of opinion piece
6) envir. workers), with some - S: Lack of access to cheap finance environmental resources in dealing with supply
services effects on rural poor, especially to expand in foreign neighboring countries. capacity and
especially for waste markets. regulatory
management and constraints in
sanitation projects in environmental
rural areas. services provision is
available

40
 Current capacity to Importance in GDP Importance in Possible importance of Stakeholder views Complementari Role models
trade (direct & indirect) development policy measures (external E, ties with in other
regulatory R, and supply previous developing
capacity S) studies countries
Significant trade in these Relatively significant and Important Liberal and open sector with no Priority sector for the Possibility for Financial
services, which are the increasing direct contribution in foreign exchange controls, but some country’s development integrating the service exports
largest in value of export contribution to GDP (4.5% employment at challenges are present, including: prospects, as evident in the available studies from Mauritius
revenues after transport and in 2005). around 6.7% in 2003 - E: need for assessing relative government’s 2016 vision (covering domestic and Caribbean.
travel related. Exports (P The indirect relevance of (when considering competitive position to develop a and in the establishment of regulatory and
196m) were slightly bigger the sector is likely to be also the sector together financial services centre (including the IFSC. supply capacity
than imports (P 150m) in significant by regulating with business role of IFSC) Possible export issues) with options
2005, mainly due to the and providing access to services) – CSO - E: need to understand the potential opportunities in the for negotiating
trade surplus in insurance capital and by providing data. impact of complying with the insurance market through position. Also useful
7) financial (mainly via mode 3). insurance services for requests from other WTO members firms like BIFM and to use sector to
services businesses and households. on financial services through the establishment exemplify key
- R: important and complex domestic of the Pan-African technical issues in
regulatory issues to be addressed for commodity exchange. GATS.
banking, insurance and other financial
services
- S: potential relevance of shortages
of skilled labour available for the
sectoral needs

Trade in health is mainly The direct impact of the The contribution is - R: Need to look at policy measures The health services sector is At present a BIDPA South Africa is
recorded as travel related health sector on GDP is likely to be large especially with respect to the shortage mainly perceived as a study is looking an important
activities and in remittance likely to be significant, (included mainly in of skills service for the population. specifically at trade competitor at
flows, as trade in Botswana although its contribution is the public sector - R: need to evaluate the potential However, the country’s in health services the
tends to be dominated by limited by the fact that it is employment), impact for opening the sector to expertise in the HIV/AIDS (mainly via international
mode 2 and 4. Evidence of not recorded at market despite the relatively private competition (which is area may potentially movement of level (mode 2, 3
8) health and some import of health prices as it is publicly low nurses/patients currently restrained) provide a comparative nurses). and 4). So are
social services services (via mode 2 and 4) provided. and doctor/patients advantage for eventual India (even via
and negligible exports The indirect impact on the ratios. export activities (especially mode 1),
(mainly mode 4). economy is possibly more via mode 3 and mode 4). Thailand and
important as labour Caribbean.
efficiency crucially depends
on health conditions.

41
 Current capacity to Importance in GDP Importance in Possible importance of Stakeholder views Complementari Role models
trade (direct & indirect) development policy measures (external E, ties with in other
regulatory R, and supply previous developing
capacity S) studies countries
It is by far the largest Fairly significant direct Important share in - E: difficult access for most local The relevance of tourism There is scope to Several
exporter of services (mainly share in GDP (between total employment operators to foreign markets, has already been complement successful
via mode 2) with over P 2bn 3.2% and 4.5%) in 1997, (estimated at 4.5% especially overseas, so most sales of acknowledged by both information examples of
in 2003 (estimation on the which is likely to have in 1997), with tourism packages occur via several private and public sectors, (focused on supply developing
basis of travel related increased since as tourists particularly intermediaries in other countries; with initiatives as the capacity and to a countries,
services figure). Imports expenditures have grown at significant effects on - R: need for discussing the impact of establishment of the Hotel lesser extent on where tourism
seem to be very low and are higher rates than the overall the poor (due to the various domestic policies, e.g. lease and Tourism Association domestic regulatory is one of the
9) travel mainly related to imports of economic growth rate rural location and contracts, work permits, promotion of (HATAB) and the public issues) with an main export
related educational services, though during the past eight years. the intensive use of secondary sites sector Tourism Board. The analysis of the sectors (various
services mode 3 regulations relatively unskilled - S: need for human resources sector is considered to have negotiating options Caribbean
determine the conditions labour). development in accordance to the an ample growth potential (including an countries,
and market access for sectoral needs and it is one of the priorities evaluation of Mauritius,
foreign Hotels in Botswana. of Vision 2016. existing Tanzania,
commitments) and Kenya).
on unaddressed
domestic policy
choices.
No data available. Trade is Small direct and indirect Small effects on - policies to promote cultural Not regarded as a priority Few studies South Africa as
10) likely to be small and impact on the economy. employment, with exchanges may be potentially helpful sector at this stage, although available. sports event
recreational, mainly confined to some very few employed in developing trade. there may be some potential organizer
recreational activity traded professionally. to exploit culture and music
cultural and via mode 2 and 4. related to tourism.
sporting Some possibilities for
services cultural services linked to
tourism.
It is the second largest While the direct importance Limited and stable - E: need for evaluating the role of Government’s view of Few studies Air cargo hub
traded services sector. of transport is limited (1.1% contribution in regional cooperation (including making the country a available. Possibility developed by
Botswana is a net importer of GDP), the indirect employment (around harmonization and simplification of potential regional transport of developing a Kenya and
due to its landlocked impact is crucial for the 1.7% in 2003 – border operations and development of hub (both for road and air complete case study South Africa.
11) transport position, with imports of P competitiveness of a authors’ estimate on infrastructure network) transport). Road and to inform
services 1.5bn in 2003 and P 420 m landlocked country like CSO data). - E/R: need to assess the impact of the railway transport are negotiating options
of exports (mainly via mode Botswana both for goods current air transport regulation (both considered crucial for the and domestic
1) and services (esp. through BASA and domestic regulation) development of the regulation.
air transport) - S: need to address the potential for economy, while air cargo is
skills shortages (e.g. bus drivers) an export oriented activity.
12) Other Negligible trade Negligible Negligible
services
Source: consultation in Botswana and various studies and reports

42
 5 Trade in tourism services

5.1 Overview

Tourism is a very important sector for Botswana. It is the most important service sector in
obtaining foreign exchange, but behind mining, and among the most important ones in terms
of contribution to employment and GDP. The sector is also important for development and
poverty reduction.

Trade in services commitments and negotiations affect the tourism sector in various ways.
Tourism services are exported via mode 2 with tourists coming mainly from Southern Africa,
and high valued added tourist from overseas. Thus GATS tourism services mode 2 of
Botswana’s partner countries would be important – though these would be non-constraining
in almost all cases. Mode 3 (imports of services) on the other hand is important because it
regulates market access and treatment of foreign hotels, lodges, restaurants etc. Finally, mode
4 trade in services is also important: imports in the case of qualified professionals whose
skills may be lacking (e.g. lodge managers and to some extent travel guides), and exports in
the case of setting up or working in travel agencies abroad.

Negotiations in other services may also affect tourism services. For instance efficient
financial and back-office services will be helpful for tourism. Transport services, and air
access are important issues.

The main question addressed in this section is to understand the importance of existing and
future trade in services commitments along side the other factors affecting the performance
of the tourism sector. We also address the relationship between GATS commitments and the
new 2006 Tourism regulations.

5.2 Importance of sector for economic development and poverty

reduction

How does trade in tourism services affect development?

Tourism seems to have the potential for being one of the drivers of Botswana’s economic
development. It has a direct impact on economic development through its direct contribution
to GDP, employment and via the generation of foreign exchange vital to sustain the country’s
imports. Indirectly, a well developed tourism capacity may enhance the attractiveness to
other FDI. There are also significant indirect effects through linkages with the agricultural
sector and other services sectors.

Tourism services are likely to have a substantial potential for poverty reduction. Tourism
tends to be a labour intensive activity (particularly with respect to relatively less killed
labour) and it can be located in rural areas with potentially important backward linkages with
the local agricultural sector.

43
The importance of trade in tourism services in practice

The tourism industry has experienced rapid growth over the past few years, with the number
of licensed tourist establishments rising from 100 in 1998 to 226 in 2003 (Department of
Tourism). Around 266 tour operators were licensed by the Department of Tourism, in
addition to about 180 restaurants and similar establishments licensed by municipalities. Many
tour operators are foreign owned (Monanne and Sesinyi, 2001). The supply of
accommodation has increased substantially from 2376 rooms in 1998 to 3707 rooms in 2003,
a growth of 60%. This is substantially higher than the growth in visitor arrivals of just more
than 30% during the corresponding period.11

The ownership structure of licenses issued to tour operators is as follows:

• Citizen owned: Accounted for 40% of licenses issued in 2003, compared to 23% in 1998
(closest to nationals);
• Joint Venture: Accounted for 27% of licenses issued in 2003, compared to 37% in 1998;
• Non-citizen: Accounted for 33% of licenses issued in 2003, compared to 40% in 1998.

The direct effect is substantial. A study by the Botswana Tourism Department in 1998
showed that tourism contributed between 3.2% and 4.5% to the GDP in 1997, depending on
the method used for the calculation (i.e. expenditure or output approach). Since tourist
expenditures have increased at higher rates than the overall economic growth rate during the
past eight years, it is estimated that the sector’s contribution to GDP has grown to more than
4.5%. The study assumed that tourism’s share of total employment was the same as its share
of GDP (estimated at about 4.5 percent), and that the total number of jobs generated by the
tourism sector would be expected to be around 9,900 persons in 1997 (Leechor, 2004).

The indirect effect on the economy as a whole, though linkages etc, is also substantial. The
WTTC (2006) estimates that the total contribution to the economy could be 8% and the
sector is responsible for 9.6% of employment in the economy. Of course we should admit the
difficulties in producing such estimates. Using the same methodology, table 17 shows that
travel and tourism is relatively high in the region.

Table 17 Travel and Tourism Contribution in employment (direct and indirect),

selected countries (%)

Botswana 9.6
South Africa 7.5
Mauritius 28.1
Zambia 3.4
Namibia 10.7
Kenya 9.2
SSA 6.6
Source: World Travel & Tourism Council

11
This disproportionate increase in the supply of accommodation could be the result of increased investment in
accommodation facilities during the late 1990’s and early 2000 when tourism was in a strong growth cycle and
visitor arrival had increased by approximately 47% between 1998 and 2000. Unfortunately tourism arrivals
have been declining since 2000 and this has led to tourism accommodation increases having outstripped visitor
growth.

44
There are two main types of tourists in Botswana:

• Overseas tourists usually consume high value services concentrated in the Okavango
Delta area (in line the “high value low volume” tourism strategy implemented by some of
the domestic tourist industry);
• African tourists may choose low-middle value holidays (e.g. self-driving, camping).

While there has been a decline in absolute numbers of tourists (after filtering out
irregularities) total expenditure has risen, driving up the receipts from tourism close to P 3
mn in 2003 (USD 470 mn). Table 18 shows that the majority of tourists are African, with 50-
60,000 overseas tourists. While the data records Zimbabweans and Zambians as tourists,
most of these arrivals seem to be related to migration rather than tourism (as it is confirmed
by the rapid growth of Zimbabwean “tourists” in a period of deep recession for that country).
Once we filter out these arrivals, the data show a declining pattern between 2000 and 2003,
which might be due to certain negative shocks (e.g. 9/11, SARS, Iraq war) rather than to an
idiosyncratic decline of Botswana’s ability to attract tourists. According to the operators
interviewed there has been a quick recovery of tourism in the last few years, which would
suggest that the negative effect of the external shocks is fading away. There has been an
increase in total receipts from tourism.

Table 18 Tourist arrivals in Botswana and tourist expenditure

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

South Africa 393,528 507,610 478,044 407,247 354,984
Zimbabwe 245,630 311,452 319,174 401,424 435,940
Zambia 28,888 40,343 36,681 44,644 34,636
Namibia 39,952 40,429 36,681 34,814 29,415
USA 9,871 23,967 21,971 15,238 10,656
UK 15,519 22,868 19,283 18,077 14,445
Germany 8,209 13,317 8,875 8,640 6,584
Netherlands 4,460 7,038 6,030 5,161 4,181
Australia 5,577 8,217 5,756 5,488 4,118
France 3,219 4,562 4,358 3,679 2,730
Other countries 88,461 123,993 111,992 92,146 77,776
Total 843,314 1,103,796 1,048,845 1,036,558 975,465
Total without Zbw and Zmb 568,796 752,001 692,990 590,490 504,889
Major overseas countries 46,855 79,969 66,273 56,283 42,714
Expenditure (USD million) 234 313 300 309 356
Source: Department of Tourism

How well is Botswana doing compared to other countries?

Various data sources (incl. table 18) show that there has been a steady increase in tourism
receipts over the past decade. Obviously it is doing better than Zimbabwe, but it also scores
better than other neighbouring countries, see chart 3. For instance, Botswana has been
growing similarly fast as Kenya. Comparisons with South Africa are made difficult because
of the spike in 2003. Chart 4 shows that Botswana’s share of tourism receipts in GDP was
also relatively high (though not as high as in Mauritius and Tunisia) and rising. Travel
services are around three quarters of total exports of services in Botswana, higher than in
most other countries in the region (chart 5).

45
Chart 3 International tourism receipts, selected countries (current million USD)

2,500 7,000

6,000
2,000

5,000
Tunisia
1,500
4,000
Mauritius
South Africa 3,000
1,000
Kenya

2,000

500 Namibia
1,000
Botswana Zambia

0 0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Note: South Africa’s values are on the right axis; receipts’ values for Botswana are different from the
expenditure values in Table 18 as they come from a different source.
Source: WDI 2006

Chart 4 Tourism receipts as % of GDP, selected countries

14 20

18
12 Mauritius
16
Namibia
10 14
Tunisia
12
8
10
Kenya
6
8

4 Botswana 6

4
2
2
South Africa
0 0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Note: Mauritius’ values are on the right axis

Source: WDI 2006

46
Chart 5 Travel services as % of commercial services exports
100

Namibia
90

80
Botswana
70

60 South Africa Mauritius

50
Middle income

Kenya
40
Sub-Saharan Africa

30
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Source: WDI 2006

Comparative/competitive advantage of tourism services in Botswana

A number of factors play a role in determining Botswana’s competitiveness as a tourist

destination (both relative to the region and to the rest of the world):

• The country is politically stable and secure, which is relevant, specifically for the tourism
sector and given the political turmoil in its neighbours
• Some argue it has an international recognition as a very prestigious, wilderness tourist
destination, but
• It is not easy to reach, with little direct access from overseas (all through South Africa),
and hence relatively costly to reach, and
• the perception is that the prices of Botswana’s lodge are high.

Botswana ranks 115 in terms of absolute size and relative contribution to the national
economy and number 41 for tourism growth prospects (out of 174 countries) according to the
World Travel and Tourism Council.

5.3 Summary of relevant regulatory frameworks

The domestic regulatory framework of the tourism industry seems fairly straightforward.
There are some regulatory limitations but these do not seem to impose any major constraint
on the ability to trade in export services. The two main pieces of legislation regulating the
operations of the tourism industry in Botswana include

• the Tourism Act (1992) and

• the Tourism Regulations (1996).

47
The Tourism Act provides for regulating the tourism industry with a view to promoting its
development and well-being. It a) makes provision for the licensing of tourism enterprises
and sets out the procedures in respect of applications for licenses, power of inspection,
appeals, etc.; b) defines categories of tourism enterprises; c) makes provision for the
introduction of a grading system for tourism enterprises; d) establishes a Tourist Industry
Licensing Board; e) makes provision for the possible introduction of a training levy and the
establishment of a National Advisory Council on Tourism.

Monnane and Sesinyi (2001) describe limitations relevant for GATS commitments, for both
market access and national treatment in mode 3. In terms of the Tourism Act tourism
enterprises are only allowed to operate if they are issued with operating licenses and existing
licensees have to renew their licenses annually, except for when they are exempt from doing
so by the relevant Minister. The tourism act states that any person wishing to carry on a
tourist enterprise is required to apply to the Director of Tourism and supply information as
required by the Director

The Tourism Regulations established the National Council on Tourism, specifies the
requirements for a tourism license and hotel grading and lays down the license fees and
training levies. The exact status of these documents is somewhat unclear as the regulations
have since been amended to exempt certain categories of enterprises from licenses and to put
the grading system on hold. Also, the new National Tourist Board has been appointed since
(Leechor, 2004).

One possibly discriminatory rule affecting mode 3 market access includes that “Botswana
citizens are encouraged to hold a substantial fraction of the shares in the safari companies.”
Another affects mode 3 national treatment: “Licensed operators are required to keep proper
registers indicating nationalities of visitors, classification of grades of all hotels as well as
safety and sanitation of desirable standards” (Tourism Regulations, 1996).

Botswana has included GATS commitments covering two tourism sub sectors, 9a hotels and
restaurants, and 9b travel agencies and tour operators. It has not included commitments in 9c
tourist guides service, unlike some other countries, see table 19. The evaluation of the impact
of such commitments on market access and national treatment is not easy as other factors will
have played a more important role, and other countries will also have included such
commitments.

Table 19 GATS commitments in Tourism

Country Commitments (National Treatment or Market Access

Botswana 9a, 9b (Mode 2 and 3)
South Africa 9a, 9b (except Mode 4) & 9c (Mode 2 and 3)
Zambia 9a, 9b, 9c (except mode 4)
Namibia 9a, 9b
Kenya 9a, 9b, 9c
Mauritius
Tanzania 9a (for hotel above 4 stars category, only Mode 1)
Source: WTO

48
5.4 Analysis of key constraints

The main constraints to further development of this sector which have emerged from
consultations and reports are the subject to an intense debate at the national level and appear
to be related to domestic regulation and supply capacity. Related to services trade
negotiations, Botswana has already committed some tourism sub-sector, so the question here
is what have been the possible effects of these commitments, though there is scope for further
commitments in other tourism sub-sectors.

We identified the following key issues, distinguishing amongst external, regulatory and
supply capacity constraints:

External:

1. Difficult access for local operators to foreign markets

Most sales of tourism packages occur via several intermediaries, including tour operators and
wholesalers overseas and in South Africa (which acts as sales hub for the Southern African
region). Therefore, a substantial share of value-added accruing to actors along the tourism
value chain accrues to companies outside Botswana. This is mainly a corporate issue, in that
companies in Botswana are able to capture a greater share of the value chain when they are
sufficiently competitive and skilled, and not a regulatory issue. On the other hand, if local
operators find it difficult to enter value chains because of restrictive business practices by
foreign companies (e.g. pressure due to uncompetitive behaviour), it might be helpful to be
able to make a case in the relevant country (and hence ask to include competition policies in
international negotiations, e.g. as the Dominican Republic has done in the case of the
proposed Tourism Annex in GATS negotiations.).

There are also restrictions on personnel of tourism enterprises abroad. Some of these
restrictions could be addressed by Mode 4 trade in services negotiations at SADC, EPA and
GATS levels. Botswana can be open to attracting workers to address the skills gap in the
hotel, financial services and education services sectors, and in return demand better access
for its own workers such as tour guides and operators. Botswana should clearly identify the
target markets by sector.

2. Allocation of work permits to foreign employees

There are difficulties in obtaining work permits for their foreign employees of firms located
in Botswana (see e.g. UNCTAD, 2003). This seems to be related more to the procedure of
granting permits rather than to the actual regulation itself. This constrains the ability of
businesses to source adequate skills, and might be important for the tourism sector with skills
gaps. This makes it difficult to employ qualified personnel especially in specified areas (e.g.
lodge managers) creating some rigidities in the labour market (e.g. needing to keep on
inefficient managers).

3. GATS commitments and effects of foreign companies

This has not come up as a major issue. On the contrary, the tourism sector has been
performing particularly well despite or because of Botswana’s commitments in two sub-
sectors. At the least, GATS commitments are very unlikely to have worsened investment in
tourism, but the GATS commitments themselves did not change the practice of non-
discrimination (just the international binding). There is however some resentment against

49
foreign ownership as it is thought that Botswana may not capture as much from the tourism
value chain as is possible. The strict interpretation of the presence of GATS commitments
would not allow for subsidization to attract certain companies or improve the impact of
existing companies using local content requirements (similar to TRIMs in the case of goods
trade), and alternative ways need to be found for this (see Box 5) such as general linkage
programmes or general supplier development programmes.

Box 5 GATS rules on subsidies and local content for services

GATS article XV deals with subsidies: … in certain circumstances, subsidies may have distortive
effects of trade in services. Members shall enter into negotiations with a view to developing the
necessary disciplines ...“ It also recognizes the role of subsidies in relation to development and the
need for flexibility, and asks for an information exchange concerning all subsidies related to trade
in services.

There are already disciplines related to GATS that deal with subsidies. SCM agreement already
provides scope for remedial action against unfair subsidization of services embodied in goods (as
TRIMS does for local content requirements). For services, subsidies are considered “measures”
within the meaning of the GATS, so MFN obligations apply (GATS Art. II). However,
governments may choose not to subsidise foreign firms only; or use MFN exemptions. National
treatment applies to the subsidy practices to the extent that a sector has been listed in a country’s
schedule of commitments (GATS Art XVII). Botswana has done this for tourism services but not
financial services. Limitations to commitments can be scheduled, some by sector, others
horizontally. But if local content or subsidies are not mentioned for scheduled sectors, they are not
permitted. Market access is precondition for binding effects in NT and MFN clauses; as without
market access commitments there are no effects. GATS Art XV (2) states that adversely affected
Members may request consultation; this shall be accorded sympathetic consideration; but no
guidelines what to do, and no reference to the DSU.

There was no time table initially for services negotiations, but the 2001 guidelines suggests that
Members shall aim to complete negotiations on Art XV prior to conclusion on specific
commitments; however, it is far from clear whether disciplines will really materialise; not much
has happened so far (and the Doha Round has now come to a standstill). It will be very hard to
determine whether investment incentives are trade-distorting (different in case of goods) and when
they are legitimate for public policy reasons (recognised by Art XV). What might be helpful is to
have an information exchange on relevance of all / trade-distorting subsidies before deciding
whether and how to deal with subsidies in GATS.

Regulatory:

1. Duration of lease for land concession contracts

The majority of valuable land from a tourism point of view (e.g. the entire Okavango Delta
area) is tribal land, which can be utilized through leases of up to 15 years. After that period
the lease is tendered through open competition. This new form of arrangement (earlier there
was no limit of time to the lease) has been controversial and most of the industry views it as a
limitation to its incentive to invest on the sites (due to the lack of security of the investment).
On the other hand, there may also have been benefits from this regulation for the economy as
whole. First, it stimulates competition between operators for the land and pushes up the
prices of lease benefiting the government and local communities. Second, it may open
potential windows of opportunity for Batswana to participate into the industry as

50
shareholders by participation in the tender at a later stage, while allowing their capacities to
increase.

2. Weak international air access, and inefficient (domestic) air transport

There are no direct flights from the EU or US even though these constitute important markets
for tourists in terms of revenues. Domestically, the air transport system from and to tourist
locations is regarded as a major constraint to the development of the tourism industry. This
constraint operates through various channels: poor levels of transport services offered to
tourists (e.g. delays, cancellation, technical problems); and insufficient seat capacity, which
creates problems of compatibility between supply of accommodation packages and supply of
transport services.

Supply capacity:

1. Lack of adequate domestic human resources to fulfil the sectoral needs.

The shortage is especially severe for managerial roles (e.g. lodge managers) and some
specialised skills (e.g. accountants, sales and reservation specialists). There is evidence that a
substantial part of managerial and specialized jobs are covered by foreign employees (e.g.
South African, Zimbabwean, Kenyan, see also box 6). Although some more formal training
has been introduced in recent years especially in the Maun area (e.g. through the Maun
technical college), the supply of skills seems to be insufficient for the needs of an
increasingly demanding industry. The skill gap is particularly significant with respect to on-
the-job training, as well as the appropriateness of formal education, as formal education is
often de-linked from professional experience.

2. Relatively uncompetitive support services

The tourism industry is dependent on a number of support services (e.g. marketing, sales,
reservation, IT), which are crucial for the competitiveness of the industry. A large number of
tourism firms have decided to localize part of their operations in Johannesburg (see Box 6).
This pattern is potentially a constraint to the capacity of the industry to generate revenue and
employment in Botswana. If costs and technology permitted, it could also be better for the
industry to have access to support services nearby.

3. Under-utilisation of secondary tourist sites

Most secondary (i.e. unknown) tourism sites (e.g. the Central Kalahari, the Western Delta,
the Pans and the Kgalagadi) appear to be under-exploited due to lack of supply capacity and
marketing efforts. These destinations are potentially a viable alternative to the most popular
ones, and may alleviate pressures on the Maun area and spread the benefits of the industry
across the country.

5.5 Possible implications for trade in services policy

Generally there is a lack of a detailed tourism plan around which the country can unite. Such
a plan might be helpful to frame the present discussion of policies. For instance, Mauritius
recently stated it would aim for 2mn visitors by 2015 up from 800.000 per annum now, and
this has ramifications for different parts. There is a range of policy options that may
potentially address the constraints identified in the previous section. We list them by
constraint before turning our attention to services negotiations.

51
1. Investment promotion and other service negotiations.
There may be opportunities for extending the range of services activities targeted by the
International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) to include tourism related services (e.g. sales
and reservation services). Moreover, the use of new technology (e.g. internet) may help
increasing direct sales. In this way Botswana could appropriate some further parts of the
global value chain in tourism. However, the bulk of the market power is likely to be kept by
large tour operators and wholesalers in Europe and North America, in part because of the
geographic vicinity to the tourists.

Box 6 The establishment of tourism back-office operations in South Africa

A significant part of back-office operations including sales and reservation offices supporting the
Botswana tourist industry are located in South Africa, Johannesburg. The largest tourism company
operating in Botswana (Okavango Wilderness Safari) has established its sales, marketing and
reservation office in Johannesburg, serving all its operations in Africa (but which are concentrated
mainly in Botswana). It employs around 90 people.

A number of factors may have contributed for the decision to locate certain tourism related activities
in South Africa:
- More efficient and reliable communications network in South African relative to Botswana. Given
the communication intensity of sales and reservation activities, such relative advantage may be
important.
- Greater availability of skilled personnel, especially as far as marketing and reservation competences
are concerned.
- Easier access to foreign tour operators (which usually carry out the sales on behalf of the Botswana
tour operator), most of which have a branch in Johannesburg
- Superior access to support services for the operations (e.g. computer and internet related support,
publishing services for brochures).

On the other hand there are also incentives in setting these operations in Botswana, which could be
exploited in case Botswana were able to tackle these deficiencies. In particular, establishing these
operations in Botswana would reduce:
- the costs of communication between the lodges and the reservation (even if most communication
occurs via internet, there is still a significant part which has to be dealt with on the phone or face-to-
face)
- foreign exchange rate costs: as many tourism firms have their head office in Botswana, the price
paid in South African currency to the sales department has to be converted in Pula when transferring
it to the head office.

2. More effective work permit regulation.

There seems to be need to make the allocation of work permits more efficient and effective to
help the industry in short-run while at the same time creating a appropriate and good quality
skills at home. One option is to consider the adoption of mode 4 schedules for temporary
access such as by the EC which allow intra-corporate transferees for a temporary period
subject to conditions such as prior employment, education and experience. Others include the
provision of objective criteria for the granting of permits or of a limited (and ideally
decreasing over time) number of permits to firm (who can then allocate to employees).

3. Maintain existing land leasing policy

Whether the land leasing policy needs to be changed (especially in terms of the duration of
the lease) is very much an empirical question. Some preliminary evidence seems to suggest

52
that despite the limited number of years for the concession, operators still find it profitable to
participate into the tendering process, while the government would be able to obtain higher
revenues due to higher prices. Is the appropriate length of leasing 10 years, 15 years or 20
years? Our limited evidence has not led us to think that the current length is not right. Of
course, more detailed work would be needed.

4. Provide appropriate and good quality skills

Improve cooperation between training institutions and firms in the industry, by developing
further specialised institutions, tailored to the specific needs of Botswana’s tourism.

5. Increase tourism marketing

Increase promotion of secondary sites and design an effective tender process for the land in
those areas. Some suggested it was not just the marketing that was lacking, but the funds to
develop the sited prior to marketing.

6. Improve the provision of support services

There is a need to strengthen and improve the provision of services which supports back-
office operations in tourism if Botswana wants to capture a higher share of the tourism value
chain. In particular IT services (both at the supply capacity and at the regulatory level) need
improvement together with the development of appropriate skills.

7. Improved air access

There are several options that may need consideration. One is the development of an efficient
national air carrier either through privatisation or increased public investment in Air
Botswana. A complementary option is to press ahead with further extensions of BASAs
(Bilateral Air Services Agreements) and open skies agreements, including in the regional
context (box 7). Air Botswana needs to improve and invest if it is to be able to withstand
competition in a more open market.

Evidence for the region suggests that air access to Botswana is more constrained and as a
result more expensive than to other countries, thus supporting a less restrictive policy in
Botswana. Richman and Lyle (2005) compare prices of flights for destinations under 1
200km from Johannesburg. The costs of flights to relatively unconstrained routes where
BA/Comair competes with the national carrier and Comair’s no-frills carrier kulula.com has
entered these markets tends to be lower, at SA Rand 0.52c per km to Windhoek and SA Rand
0.65c per km to Harare. This is in stark contrast with R1.57 per km to Maputo and R2.01 per
km to Gaborone. Both of these are more constrained routes where only the national airlines
of each country are allowed to fly the route. This indicates the relatively high price of flights
to Botswana.

Myburgh et al. (2006) perform a statistical analysis of the effects of liberalisation on prices
of flights and the number of visitors by air. The argue that based on air fares on 56 routes in
SADC (including Botswana), air fares are 18 percent lower on liberalised routes, which
could have increased passenger volumes by 14–32 percent (if capacity available). The
presence of a low-cost airline on a given route has reduced prices by an average of 40
percent, which could have increased passenger volumes by 32–72 percent.

Reviewing evidence worldwide, Richman and Lyle (2005) also argue that
• Air transport liberalisation has been successful as a channel and catalyst for increased
economic growth and employment, especially related to tourism.

53
 • A decline in market share and traffic of the national carrier is likely to be much more
than compensated by the benefits to the economy from increased air traffic to and
from the country.
• The alternative to liberalisation is likely to prove much more costly to both a national
carrier and the economy in the medium-term, with a probably increasing need for
public subsidy to the carrier and an increasing opportunity cost for development of
the national economy.

Box 7 Air access issues for Botswana

All domestic routes are controlled by Air Botswana. These include: Gaborone – Maun, Gaborone-
Francistown, Gaborone-Kasane, Kasane-Maun. Air Botswana and South African Express both
operate scheduled international transport. Air Botswana controls around 60% of the market (in
2000) and operates Gaborone – Johannesburg, Gaborone-Harare, Maun-Cape Town,
Johannesburg–Maun, Johannesburg-Fransistown. South African Airways runs regular scheduled
international flights to and from Botswana: Johannesburg–Gaborone, Cape Town-Gaborone. Air
Namibia operates a flight between Maun and Windhoek

Botswana has a fully operational Bilateral Air Services Agreement with South Africa, and a
partially operational with Zimbabwe and Namibia. The rest of the bilateral agreements are not
operational, with the London-Gaborone route (operated by British Airways) and the Paris-
Gaborone route (operated by Air France) having been terminated in 1999. Most of the bilateral
agreements are with countries in Africa and Europe. These countries are: Kenya, Malawi, South
Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, and United Kingdom.
Botswana also has a bilateral agreement with Pakistan. The president suggested last year to
activate the Botswana - Zambia route.

The recent re-negotiation of the bilateral air service agreement between Botswana and South
Africa has made it possible for AB to operate the Maun-Cape Town route effective from October
2005 and for SAA to operate Johannesburg-Maun and Johannesburg-Francistown. The ministry of
Works and Transport concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with South Africa. An
open skies policy regarding cargo services has come into force whilst multiple designation and
multiple entry market access for passenger services is scheduled to come begin May 2007. This
MoU should allow any Botswana or South African airline to fly from and to any airport between
the two countries, stimulating competition in the air transport services between the two countries.
The effects are likely to be beneficial for consumers (e.g. lower prices, more efficient services); on
the other hand the liberalisation may pose serious threats to Air Botswana’s survival, given the
current relatively weak competitive position of the national carrier. Air Botswana made substantial
losses initially, recorded profits in the early 2000s, but last year, fuel price caused losses for 2005.

Botswana is party to two multilateral agreements (BIDPA, 2003): The SADC Protocol on
Transport and Meteorology and the Yamoussoukro Decision. One of the objectives of the SADC
Protocol is to overcome the constraints of small national markets for some SADC airlines and to
enhance competitiveness of regional air services in a global context. The Yamoussoukro Decision,
signed by 50 African states in August 2000 is an Open Skies policy for Africa. When the
agreement is fully operational, African airlines could fly over or land in any of the territories of
member states. The US, for example, aims to conclude open skies agreement at a bilateral level.

54
Of course there are likely to be positive and negative experience. And there may be negative
consequences for the 320 employees of Air Botswana if it has to face more competition.
There may also be some short term uncertainty in case Air Botswana failed to secure certain
routes in the face of competition. Therefore, a gradual move to liberalisation coupled with
upgrading and if appropriate privatisation of the national carrier seems a suitable way
forward. It would be important to promote the idea of an air access unit, with inputs from the
Ministries responsible for Trade and Tourism, in order to steer and analyse this process.

There are further implications for tourism in trade in services negotiations. First, past tourism
commitments in GATS have coincided with strong growth of the tourism sector with
significant positive effects on development. There are more foreign companies and
investment than before 1995, and investment has continued (Table 20 below). Some studies
for other regions suggest GATS commitments might be one of a range of helpful
determinants. Second, more offers could be considered in 9c, tourist guide services, and other
(though this would be too open ended and needs clarifying using CPC numbers), particularly
in relation to mode 4. Third, Botswana will have an offensive interest in better mode 4 access
for establishing tour operators abroad, bearing in mind that mode 4 restrictions are unlikely
to be the main cause.

Table 20 FDI stocks in tourism (million Pula and %)

1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004

Equity Total Equity Total Equity Total Equity Total Equity Total Equity Total
Hospitality 59 60 83 83 10 17 124 129 134 139 52 57
% FDI 2.2% 1.0% 2.1% 1.1% 0.2% 0.2% 2.3% 1.6% 2.4% 1.8% 1.3% 1.4%
% non-
mining FDI 6.6% 4.8% 5.2% 4.6% 0.6% 0.8% 7.0% 5.7% 6.9% 5.7% 3.5% 3.3%
Source: BoB Annual Reports

Other GATS negotiations may also affect tourism in the future, in particular commitments
conducive for investment in financial and related backoffice services and transport services.
Negotiations on GATS rules may also be important, as they might affect non-committed
sectors relating to negotiations on subsidies.

Botswana is engaged in other negotiations which can include services, such as EPAs: EPAs
might be helpful for getting better access to mode 4 supply of services, streamline access to
development funds (worth around €30-40mn over 5 years) that might help trade in services
capacity (e.g. to satisfy CPA article 41.5, see Box 8 for previously EU financed projects).
Finally, it is possible to think about the inclusion of additional services commitments. Jansen
(2006) for instance argues that the ESA group of countries stand to gain from including
financial services and tourism in EPAs. This would allow more competition between EU and
South African firms in third markets. However, if the SADC-EU EPA will be a retrofit of the
TDCA, any serious negotiations on services commitments are likely to be deferred until later.

Finally, there are ongoing discussions SADC. However, apart from regional integration of air
transport (discussed in Box 7) the tourism sector might not be affected much.

55
 Box 8 Aid for Trade: what projects have been funded by EDF in Botswana?

• Botswana trade development programmes

• Vocational training programmes (several projects)
• Botswana tourism development programme
• Francistown vocational teachers training centre and VTC
• Wildlife conservation & utilisation in Central & Southern Botswana
• Lobatse water supply
• Support for HIV/AIDS programme
• Aeromagnetic geological survey of Western Ngamiland
• Assistance to the base metal mining industry (SYSMIN)
• Several microprojects programmes
• Strengthening of government capacity in the appraisal and implementation of EU funded
programmes
• Wildlife conservation and management programme
• Technical assistance to NAO’s office
• Economic diversification of the mining sector (SYSMIN)

5.6 The new 2006 Tourism regulations and GATS consistency

What are the new Tourism regulations?

The 2006 Budget included reference to new regulations

“… under the revised Tourism Regulations… citizens will have exclusive rights to the
operation of several types of small and medium tourism enterprises, such as guest houses,
motor boat safaris, camping and caravan sites, mekoro, mobile safaris and tourism transfers
and transportation.”

This was followed up by an official announcement in August 2006. The new tourism
regulations, 2006, state that the following tourist enterprises are reserved for citizens of
Botswana or companies which are wholly owned by citizens of Botswana:

• Camping sites including caravan sites

• Guest houses
• Mekoro operations
• Mobile safaris
• Motorboat safaris
• Transportation.

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What exactly did the country commit in GATS in the tourism sector?

Botswana has already made commitments in 1995 in modes 1–3 including in the following
sub-sectors

9a Hotels and Restaurants (CPC641–643)

9b Travel agencies and tour operators.

Box 9 shows what is included in CPC641–643. This includes services such as camping and
caravanning, which would be reserved for nationals under the new regulations.

There are no CPCs listed under GATS tourism sector 9b, but this can include:

7471 Travel agency and tour operator services

74710 Travel agency and tour operator services

Thus, some of the operations in the new regulations above might be included in these CPCs
for which Botswana has already made commitments.

The GATS tourism sector 9c includes:

7472 Tourist guide services

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 Box 9 Tourism, subsector 9A, UN Classifications for CPC641-CPC643

64 Hotel and restaurant services

641 Hotel and other lodging services
6411 Hotel lodging services
64110 Hotel lodging services
6412 Motel lodging services
64120 Motel lodging services
6419 Other lodging services
64191 Children's holiday camp services
64192 Holiday center and holiday home services
64193 Letting services of furnished accommodation
64194 Youth hostel and mountain shelter services
64195 Camping and caravaning site services
64196 Sleeping car services and sleeping services in other transport media
64199 Other lodging services n.e.c.
642 Food serving services
6421 Meal serving services with full restaurant service
64210 Meal serving services with full restaurant service
6422 Meal serving services in self-service facilities
64220 Meal serving services in self-service facilities
6423 Caterer services, providing meals to outside
64230 Caterer services, providing meals to outside
6429 Other food serving services
64290 Other food serving services
643 Beverage serving services for consumption on the premises
6431 Beverage serving services without entertainment
64310 Beverage serving services without entertainment
6432 Beverage serving services with entertainment
64320 Beverage serving services with entertainment

Are the new regulations contravening GATS commitments?

As indicated above it seems that the new regulations are contravening existing GATS
commitments unless the newly reserved operations were classified as:

• 9c tourist guide services, for which there are currently no commitments in GATS, or
• mode 4 supply of services (see below under options).

Tourist guide services do not tend to include all of the above ‘tourist enterprises’, though this
would need further examination. Also the nature of the words “tourist enterprises” seems to
suggest that this relates to market access for foreign companies via mode 3. If the purpose
had been to restrict foreign workers, it could have been possible to classify this as a mode 4
market access limitation, which is still open to Botswana because commitments in this mode
are “unbound except as indicated in the horizontal commitments”.

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What are the options for Botswana?

1) Change the 2006 tourism regulations

Restricting services companies to citizens in this way is not conducive to developing the
services sectors in Botswana; if Botswana is concerned about employment of citizens rather
than national development, it would be more efficient to first promote domestic capabilities
and then to use immigration procedures and work permits (mode 4) rather than restrictions on
enterprises. For instance, the new regulations could severely limit the ability of foreign
owned tourist enterprises to operate even if they brought new skills, marketing methods,
finance, and employed citizens. Why does Botswana want to limit welfare enhancing, foreign
owned guest houses? It will surely be more efficient to promote the capabilities of citizens to
build and operate guest houses.

Also the impact of the law seems limited. While according to the budget of February 2007,
the number of Batswana engaged in tourism related business increased by 11 per cent in
almost a year, the level itself is quite low and stood at 247 last year, from 223 in 2005. What
is not mentioned is how much revenues have changed.

Some argue that the listed activities are not key to foreign investment and that this is a
rationale for restricting these activities to nationals. However, there is at least some foreign
investment in these activities, so some commercial interest, and conversely, if there is not a
lot of FDI in the sector there would be a need for attracting more for it, and providing a
transparent and open framework for this would be important.

2) Interpret the new Tourism legislation

Another option for Botswana would be to clarify the new tourism legislation. It may well be
aimed at specific tour guide companies, in which case it concerns mode 3 commitments in
sector 9c. Leaving aside the potential inefficiency of doing this, it would limit the possibility
of a GATS infringement in sectors 9a and 9b.

Another, perhaps more desirable option might be to regard the classified operations by non-
citizens tourist enterprises as self-employed or independent professionals under mode 4. The
European Union has introduced four categories in its EU-25 GATS offer
• ICT (Intra-Corporate Transferees), managers, specialists and new graduate trainees
• BV (Business visitors), both for services sellers and for establishing a business
• CSS (Contractual services suppliers),
• IP (Independent Professionals)
Botswana could introduce a similar schedule and indicate clearly where and when foreign
temporary self-employed, independent professionals would be restricted.

3) Revoke GATS commitments

Revoking GATS commitments in tourism is directly against the spirit of Botswana’s

commitment to diversify the economy and develop the service sectors. It is inefficient to
reinstate broad trade restrictions if the specific aim is to empower Batswana. It is more
efficient to empower Batswana and provide them with the skills and qualities to compete
with others. One particular concern emerging from the interviews in Maun was the lack of
access to credit for independent (indigenous) tour operators to set up their own business.

59
If the country really wants to backtrack on its commitments to develop the tourism sector,
and modify its GATS commitments, it can follow the procedures in Art XXI procedures, see
box 10. A country wishing to reverse or add a further limitation can do so after a period of 3
years of the commitment being in place – which is the case for tourism commitments.
Further, it needs to negotiate compensation with all affected parties – so it would need to find
out who would loose out. Compensation is ill defined but can be in the form of increased
services access in other areas. We are not familiar with the existence of any cases in
developing countries which have requested to modify its GATS commitments.

Box 10 GATS Article XXI Modification of Schedules

1. (a) A Member (referred to in this Article as the “modifying Member”)

may modify or withdraw any commitment in its Schedule, at any time after
three years have elapsed from the date on which that commitment entered into
force, in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
(b) A modifying Member shall notify its intent to modify or withdraw a
commitment pursuant to this Article to the Council for Trade in Services no
later than three months before the intended date of implementation of the
modification or withdrawal.
2. (a) At the request of any Member the benefits of which under this
Agreement may be affected (referred to in this Article as an “affected
Member”) by a proposed modification or withdrawal notified under
subparagraph 1(b), the modifying Member shall enter into negotiations with a
view to reaching agreement on any necessary compensatory adjustment. In
such negotiations and agreement, the Members concerned shall endeavour to
maintain a general level of mutually advantageous commitments not less
favourable to trade than that provided for in Schedules of specific
commitments prior to such negotiations.
(b) Compensatory adjustments shall be made on a most-favoured-nation basis.
3. (a) If agreement is not reached between the modifying Member and any
affected Member before the end of the period provided for negotiations, such
affected Member may refer the matter to arbitration. Any affected Member
that wishes to enforce a right that it may have to compensation must
participate in the arbitration.
(b) If no affected Member has requested arbitration, the modifying Member shall
be free to implement the proposed modification or withdrawal.
4. (a) The modifying Member may not modify or withdraw its commitment
until it has made compensatory adjustments in conformity with the findings
of the arbitration.
(b) If the modifying Member implements its proposed modification or withdrawal
and does not comply with the findings of the arbitration, any affected
Member that participated in the arbitration may modify or withdraw
substantially equivalent benefits in conformity with those findings.
Notwithstanding Article II, such a modification or withdrawal may be
implemented solely with respect to the modifying Member.
5. The Council for Trade in Services shall establish procedures for rectification or
modification of Schedules. Any Member which has modified or withdrawn
scheduled commitments under this Article shall modify its Schedule
according to such procedures.

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 6 Trade in financial services

6.1 Overview

The financial services sector is the largest service sector in value of export revenues after
travel related and transport services and has established a good position regionally. The
contribution of the sector to total employment may be less important than tourism, but will
still be important.

Exports occur in three main categories:

• insurance services
• traditional banking services, and
• back-office services.

Trade in insurance services have been growing substantially over the past years, indicating a
huge potential in this sector. The potential for trade in banking services seems to be
significantly under-exploited, given the presence of the IFSC, a fairly deep capital market,
stimulated also by large institutional savings related to the recent development of a pension
fund industry, and the presence of a stock exchange.

The financial sector in Botswana is composed of three main sub-sectors: banking, insurance
and pension and capital markets (security). We describe each of them in turn.

Banking Sector
Two banks, Barclays Bank of Botswana and Standard Chartered Bank of Botswana,
dominated the banking sector until the 1980s. In 1990, the Bank of Botswana liberalized its
licensing policy for new banks. It no longer determines whether the domestic market can
absorb a new bank. The number of foreign bank licences is in principle unrestricted, but
foreign banks must operate as locally incorporated subsidiaries while foreign bank branches
are not allowed. Local ownership is encouraged. Thus, the licensing decision depends solely
on whether a prospective new bank is sufficiently capitalized, and has access to the necessary
skills and resources to ensure a sound banking operation. The objective is to facilitate the
entry of new banks in order to promote competition and efficiency within the sector, and to
stimulate the process of financial intermediation. The profits are currently high by regional
standards.

Currently there are seven commercial banks operating in Botswana. The top four (Barclays
Bank of Botswana, Standard Chartered Bank of Botswana, Stanbic Bank of Botswana and
First National Bank of Botswana) account for 95% of total banking assets. All banks have
majority foreign ownership (3 are South African, two are British, one Indian and one
Zimbabwean).

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Insurance and Pension Sectors
Botswana has several insurance companies which offer a full range of insurance products.
Currently the insurance sector has 14 insurers (life and non-life insurers) many of which are
wholly foreign owned (mainly South African) and three are joint ventures with local
companies. In addition, there are 31 registered insurance brokerage firms (five with local
ownership) and 126 corporate agents (a majority of which are foreign owned).

Botswana has significant amount of pension assets, which increased sharply with the
government’s decision to switch to a defined contribution scheme and fully funding of
existing liabilities under the new scheme. There are about ninety pension funds with total
assets of more than P 9 billion, of which about 45% is invested abroad. There are 80 local
active funds, 8 external funds, 5 umbrella funds, 7 closed funds (no longer open for new
members) and 13 inactive funds. However, these data appear to have changed recently (P 20
billion, and 70%).

Securities Sector
Botswana set up the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) in 1989 and there are currently 23
listed companies (16 local and seven foreign sector companies) and 44 traded securities, 19
of which are bonds. In addition to ordinary shares, three bonds are listed in the stock
exchange. The composition of listed companies is more geared towards finance, wholesale,
retail, property, brewing, security and oil industries. The BSE Committee is the regulating
authority of the stock market, through the administration, share dealings, listings, take-overs
and mergers. The securities sector comprises two registered stock-broking firms as well. A
Pan-African commodities exchange should also be operational in the next future; however,
the regulatory framework is not yet permissive.

The Botswana Insurance Fund Managers (BIFM), one of the largest fund managers in the
country, owns between 8% and 10% of every listed company on the Botswana Stock
Exchange, which to some extent has aided the low liquidity levels on the exchange.

There are two major questions in relation to financial services exports

• What could be the role of trade in services commitments in the financial services sectors?
• How can the IFSC promote back office services?

6.2 Importance of sector for economic development and poverty

reduction

How does trade in financial services affect development?

Financial services contribute directly to GDP, through the value added of employees in
banks, but can also be seen as important backbone services for the economy.

The indirect relevance of the sector is likely to be significant by regulating and providing
access to capital and by providing insurance services for businesses and households. In
particular, the high interest rate is considered to be a severe constraint to the growth of
several businesses, especially small and micro enterprises. Moreover access to capital is a
binding constraint for a significant part of the household as well.

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The sector is relatively labour intensive, however the employment contribution is likely to
involve mainly relatively skilled labour; therefore, the direct contribution to poverty
reduction may be limited.

The importance of trade in financial services in practice

The sector makes an important and increasing direct contribution to GDP (4.5% in 2004/05
and an average of 4% in 1995/97 according to Bank of Botswana data). However formal
banks are aimed predominantly at the 100-200,000 wage employees, while the poorer parts
of the population are not reached.

Insurance services is the largest sub-sector in terms of trade (P173 million worth of exports,
and P135 million worth of imports in 2005). There is mode 3 trade and trade in insurance
products without registering subsidiaries in the country of the customer is restricted.
Consultations seem to suggest that life insurance services form an important part of
Botswana’s exports (e.g. BIFM is particularly active though subsidiaries in various countries
including Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia12). Trade in banking and other financial services is
significantly less with P23 million of exports and P15 million of imports in 2005. However,
importantly, 2005 was the first year in which Botswana experienced a trade surplus in this
category.

In terms of contribution to employment, the financial services sector is recorded together

with business services in CSO data, 6.7% of total employment in 2003. If we assume the
same proportion of contribution in employment as that in GDP between the two sectors, the
contribution in employment would be around 4% in 2005.

How well is Botswana doing compared to other countries?

The sector’s share in GDP is still relatively low compared to similar economies
(Soylemezoglu 2005). Financial depth is also lower than Sub-Saharan economies at a similar
stage of development. For example M2/GDP is about 26% in Botswana (which is the average
in the whole Sub-Saharan Africa) vs. 52% in South Africa and 80% in Mauritius. The
difference is even more striking in terms of bank assets/GDP. The penetration of the
insurance sector seems to be lower than in similar comparators. The premium/GDP ratio in
Botswana is 2.46%, while in Kenya is 3.3%, in Mauritius 4% and in South Africa 16.5%.
However, the penetration of the insurance sector in Botswana is significantly higher than in
most other African countries, where the ratio is around 1%.

Financial services exports from Botswana are doing well, and have risen consistently since
1996, thereby overtaking even Mauritius (though only a tenth of the value of South Africa’s
exports (Chart 6). Chart 6 shows that financial services exports are important compared to

12
Bifm – Botswana Insurance Fund Management - is a wholly owned subsidiary of Botswana Insurance
Holdings Limited (BIHL, see www.bifm.co.bw). BIHL is major listed companies on the Botswana Stock
Exchange. Its controlling shareholder (54%) is Sanlam, a South African-based company. The remaining 46%
is held by the Botswana public. Bifm was founded in 1975 as Botswana’s first “Fund” manager. In 1998 the
company was handling P770-million in investments. By 2001 this was P2-billion. In 2006 it is P11 billion.
Based in Botswana, Bifm has an operation in Zambia that currently trades under the name ‘Aflife Zambia’.

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other countries, both as part of GDP and as part of total exports of services. The level and
share of FDI in financial services has continued to rise (Table 21).

Chart 6 Financial services exports (million USD)

90 1,000

80 900

800
70
700
60
600
50
Sub-Saharan Africa
500
40
400
30
300
South Africa Mauritius
20 Botswana
200

10 100
Namibia
0 0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Note: values for South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa are on the right axis.
Source: WDI 2006

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Chart 7 Financial services exports as % of GDP

0.5 2.0
Botswana
Mauritius
0.5 1.8
South Africa
0.4 1.6

0.4 1.4

0.3 1.2

0.3 1.0
SSA
0.2 0.8

0.2 0.6

0.1 0.4
Middle income
Namibia
0.1 0.2

0.0 0.0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Note: values for Mauritius are on the right axis.

Source: WDI 2006

Chart 8 Financial services as % of commercial services exports

12

South Africa
10

8
Botswana

6 Sub-Saharan Africa

Middle income
2

Mauritius Namibia
0
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Source: WDI 2006

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Table 21 FDI stock in financial services (million Pula and %)

1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004

Equity Total Equity Total Equity Total Equity Total Equity Total Equity Total
Finance 149 226 466 523 516 619 648 803 718 873 931 931
% FDI 0.055 0.04 0.121 0.07 0.124 0.06 0.122 0.1 0.128 0.11 0.235 0.22
% non-
mining FDI 0.166 0.18 0.291 0.29 0.324 0.3 0.366 0.36 0.372 0.36 0.625 0.54
Source: BoB Annual Reports

Comparative/competitive advantage of financial services in Botswana

The idea of promoting Botswana as a financial services offshore centre is well understood in
the country and is based on a number of factors:

• a good record in terms of governance and political stability

• no foreign exchange controls
• a fairly developed network of double taxation treaties, which currently comprises South
Africa, UK, Mauritius, Sweden, India and France, although it may need further expansion
• a fairly well educated labour force that can be trained for the firms’ purposes (although
some specific skills are lacking)
• a highly liquid market where firms could raise capital
• a modern regulatory framework for cross-border trade for insurance services
• proximity to the main regional services centre, Johannesburg
• the IFSC has been set up in 2003 with the mandate to establish a cross-border financial
services industry in Botswana. It operates as a special license for companies which carry
out offshore financial services operations allowing them to pay a lower taxation rate
(15% instead of the standard 25% until 2020; and exemptions from withholding tax). It
also helps companies with sometimes lengthy procedures for the installation of their
business. The IFSC approved 5 applications of companies in 2005, bringing the number
of certified companies operating under the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC)
to 29.

6.3 Summary of relevant regulatory frameworks

Banking
Commercial banks are regulated and supervised by the Bank of Botswana, under the 1995
Banking Act and the attached 1995 Banking Regulations. The Act provides a legal
framework for the ownership and supervision of banks.

The banking sector has been open and fairly competitive. Entry into the banking sector by
foreign investors has been largely unrestricted.

Most of the restrictions apply to mode 3 of supply (commercial presence). One of the few
restrictions (Section 9 (7) of the 1995 Banking Act) prohibits banks from establishing
subsidiaries, branches or representative offices outside Botswana, without the prior written
approval of the Bank of Botswana. Apart from a few other related restrictions under Section
9 of the 1995 Banking Act, there are no limitations regarding market access such as

66
limitations on the number of foreign banks allowed or on the number of foreign nationals that
can be employed.

However, non-citizens are required to have a valid work permit (Employment of Non-
citizens' Act, CAP 47:02, (4)(1)). The Botswana banking sector has no policies that
discriminate against foreign owned banks. In fact there is a 15 per cent tax incentives
(compared to the prevailing per cent corporate tax) up to the year 2020 aimed at attracting
foreign financial institutions operating in foreign markets to the IFSC.

Certain licensing requirements allow banks to participate in the market. Some of these
requirements include the "fit and proper test" which banks need to undergo and satisfy. For
example, no person can become a director of a bank unless he is fit and proper in accordance
with the criteria determined by the Bank of Botswana. Commercial and investment banks are
also expected to fulfill a capital requirement of P5 million and P2.5 million for credit
institutions and discount houses. Foreign bank applicants need the consent of a home
supervisor.

Insurance Sector
The regulator of the insurance sector is the Registrar of Insurance, Pension and Provident
Funds in the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning granting licenses as well as
rules governing the operations of the sector. The sector is regulated under the Insurance
Industry Act (1988) for domestic transactions, and by the recently approved International
Insurance Act (2005) for international transactions. Regulation and monitoring of the
insurance and retirement funds industries in Botswana as are the Insurance Industry Act of
Botswana and the Pension and Provident Funds Act of Botswana.

A number of factors have affected the expansion of the Insurance Sector in Botswana. Most
of the restrictions relate to Mode 3 of supply. The entry and operation of foreign insurance
companies are limited by the requirement that only principal offices will be registered, thus
branches are not allowed. Insurance companies are also required to pay up a minimum share
capital of P2 million. The measures are aimed at protecting consumers and ensuring that
insurance companies within the country retain sufficient funds to meet local statutory
requirements and liabilities. The sector has no strong policies that discriminate between
domestic and foreign insurance companies. However, the Insurance Industry Act stipulates
the need for principal offices and officers to be registered and resident in Botswana, affecting
both commercial presence as well as the presence of natural persons mode of supply. The
said principal officer should have sufficient business and insurance experience to manage the
company.

The introduction of the International Insurance Act, which was passed in May 2005, aims to
create the fiscal and regulatory environment to make Botswana an attractive location from
which international insurance services, such as reinsurance, captive insurance and related
activities, can be provided to non-citizens and in currencies other than the Pula. It is one of
the first laws of this type in Africa and may provide an important window of opportunity for
developing Botswana as an offshore centre for insurance services.

Securities Sector
The stock market is highly liberal, following the liberalization of the capital account of the
balance of payments. These measures have enabled foreign registered and listed companies
to simultaneously list on the BSE and be regarded as domestic investments in Botswana. The

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Botswana Stock Exchange Act (1994) is the main piece of legislation regulating the sector,
although other relevant legislation includes Botswana Stock Exchange Listing Requirements
and Botswana Stock Exchange Members Rules. The Ministry of Finance and Development
and Planning also oversees the operations of the BSE.

The few restrictions that exist regarding market access, as per the Botswana Stock Market
Act, stipulate that the public shall hold at least 20% of each class of equity shares, unless
exempted by the stock exchange committee. Domestic residency of the firm and director is a
prerequisite to becoming a member of the BSE. Part of the requirements to registration is that
a stock-broking company should have at least one employee as a registered stockbroker.

Botswana has not entered into any GATS commitments in financial services.

Table 22 GATS commitments in financial services

Financial
Botswana, Namibia,
Tanzania, Zambia No commitments

South Africa 7a (Mode 2 and 3)

7a: Life insurance and broking (Mode 3), non-life (mode 2),
Kenya auxiliary services, reinsurance (except Mode 4); 7b (except mode 4)
Source: WTO

6.4 Analysis of key constraints

The financial sector is already a fairly open sector with no foreign exchange controls and
investment grade ratings. However various challenges are still present at external, regulatory
and supply capacity level, many of which have been discussed in previous studies and
national debates. An important challenge faced by Botswana’s financial services sector is the
appropriateness of the current financial system in dealing with the evolution of the sector.
This is not an easy task: first, this is often technical relating to efficient regulatory structures
and institutions such as the IMF are providing support; some of these issues have been
highlighted and discussed at length already by Soylemezoglu (2005). This study aims to
provide new impetus in a few key issues and focuses on other constraints to trade in financial
services.

One of the problems facing Botswana, and despite a relatively healthy and growing banking
sector, is that the proportion of private sector loans going to business has declined from 70%
in 1990 to 45% in 2001. This indicates a shift of resources away from productive investment
towards consumption, and corresponds to the failure of the country to diversify the economy.
There is no vibrant lending to the private sector indicating that business may take few risks.

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External:

1. Low level of integration at the regional level for certain financial products
This is especially true in the insurance market, where for example the harmonization of
transport insurance products would be advisable at the SADC level.

There will also be restrictions four financial services providers through mode 4. Some of
these restrictions could be addressed by Mode 4 trade in services negotiations at SADC,
EPA and GATS levels. Botswana can be open to attracting workers to address the skills
gap in financial services and in return demand better access for its own workers such as
tour guides and operators. Botswana should clearly identify the target markets by sector.

2. Insufficient network of double taxation agreements

These are agreements between Botswana and other countries, in order to avoid foreign
companies based in Botswana taxation in the country of the mother company as well. At
the moment it is confined only to a few, albeit important, countries: South Africa,
Mauritius, UK, Sweden, France, Zimbabwe, Namibia, India and Russia.

Regulatory:

3. Rigid work permits’ regulation

This constrains the ability of firms to fill gaps in domestic skills, as financial services
appear to be one of the sectors where such shortage is most severe (e.g. risk analysts,
asset managers). Some work at the IFSC has begun to improve the situation. However,
there are some fierce criticisms of the recent work permit climate at the major banks.

Supply capacity:

4. Shortage of skilled labour available for sectoral needs

This is related mainly to a lack of on-the-job experience but also applies to the lack of
formal training in the skills needed by the sector. This is a problem, particularly for big
banks when moving operations into the country. It is simply too difficult to find the right
number of appropriately skilled workers.

5. Relatively poor IT infrastructure

While the ICT infrastructure is regionally well positioned, it is not sufficient for
applications that would require high amount of data transfer, such as centralized back
office operations of financial companies. Box 11 argues that a real step up in
commitments is needed to ensure that support services are in order.

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Box 11 Time for a real commitment to promote the overall business environment for trade in
financial services

Our interviews with a selection of foreign owned banks suggested that Botswana has not yet been
able to be as serious as is needed to promote the financial services. The IFSC is a good idea, however,
all the indications are that there is a lack of appropriate complementary policies necessary for the
ultimate success of the government’s efforts to develop trade in financial services.

There are two types of complementary policies: skills development and developing an appropriate IT
infrastructure. Without these, even a favourable incentive framework cannot keep companies in
Botswana. The relatively poor quality of general IT infrastructure including poor data exchange
processes is believed to have been a major cause of Barclays’ decision to relocate part of its back
office operations away from Botswana (via IFSC).

Barclays decided to go the IFSC as there were incentives and it wanted to help the IFSC given that it
is a major bank in Botswana. It turned out to be a wrong decision for Barclays as they were not able
to get the right calibre of staff on an ongoing basis and they had considerable network IT issues at the
IFSC which they were unable to resolve. They then moved the entire regional office from Gaborone
to Johannesburg as it made sense to consolidate all their activities into one place. Thus small
standalone units without appropriate support services may not work as well. The IT framework needs
to be fully up to scratch to international standards.

The Standard Chartered bank also listed the lack of skilled labour as one of their primary concerns. A
lot of their back office services are done from Kenya, in part because they are able to deliver the
number of workers required.

It thus seems that a lot more needs to be done on the real side of financial services, with a step up in
the commitments to promote IT infrastructure and skills.

6.5 Possible implications for trade in services policy

There is a range of policy options that may potentially address the constraints identified in
the previous section. We list them and then turn our attention to GATS negotiations.

1. Improve discussions at the SADC level on integration of financial services

Botswana has already established a relatively good position in the region on which it can
build. While there have been ongoing discussions under the SADC protocol on regulatory
issues, there has been relatively little on market access issues.

2. Strengthen the network of double taxation agreements

There might be a case to strengthen the network of taxation agreements.

3. Monitor work permit issues in the financial services sector

Much of this is being addressed. However, it is cited by big banks as a major constraint. If
Botswana is serious about attracting FDI in knowledge intensive activities, it also needs to
maintain a regime that is welcome to national and foreign talents.

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4. Need for improved link between formal training to professional experience and
enhancing education programmes tailored to the specific needs of the sector.
Improve relevance of existing training and education programmes and where necessary begin
new education and training initiatives (we discuss the example of BAC in box 13 below). It
is crucial that the private sector is involved in design but also in the operation of
programmes. For instance, the private sector could offer internships or lectures for students
enrolled at universities.

5. Improved telecommunication services

Better and cheaper access to telecommunications services will improve the position of the
IFSC and financial services generally, and back office operations in particular. This has
implications both for supply capacity and the regulatory level. The connection to more fibre
optic cables would be an improvement in the capacity of the telecommunication providers
(the open access EASSY system might help to overcome some problems associated with the
closed SAT cable).

At the regulatory level, the government has considered the extent to which current
competition in the telecommunication sector is sufficient to obtain the desired standard and
efficiency of services. The Telecommunications Policy for Botswana which was adopted in
1995 aimed to introduce competition in the telecommunications sector which was followed
by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. BTC used to have the monopoly with a mandate to
provide all the telecommunications services to all areas. The implementation of the
Telecommunications Act led to the creation of the Botswana Telecommunications Authority
(BTA). The BTA has issued cellular licences to Orange Botswana (formerly Vista) and
Mascom Wireless Botswana, Internet Services Providers (ISP) licences and Data licences.
Box 12 discusses the future steps in liberalising the sector. This is expected to improve the
situation. However, it is unclear what the best time-frame is for this. The public company
needs to be restructured before being prepared for privatisation which ought to take time –
but this could lead to severe postponement as was the case of Air Botswana.

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Box 12 Further Liberalisation of the Telecommunications Sector

The Government decided to institute the following measures to open up the industry:

1) Lift the restriction on the provision of VoIP by value-added network service providers. 1 August
2006.

“Lift the restriction on the provision of VoIP by value-added network service

providers” means allowing Voice over internet Protocol to be provided by
Internet Service Providers (ISP). This is equivalent to issuing voice licenses to
ISPs at national and international level, the market currently serviced by BTC,
Mascom and Orange only.

2) Mobile operators start self providing (transmission links) 1 August 2006

“Mobile operators start self providing (transmission links)” means allowing

Mascom and Orange to build their own backbone infrastructure to carry their traffic. Currently they
are compelled to use the BTC infrastructure.

3) Current fixed line and cellular operators may apply for service-neutral licenses.
1 September 2006
“Service Neutral Licenses” are those licenses that allow an operator to provide all
telecommunications services including voice, data, and irrespective of whether the service is
transmitted wirelessly or on a wire.

4) New entrants may tender for service neutral rural/ district level licenses 1 September 2006

5) Liberalisation of the international voice gateway 1 October 2006

“Liberalisation of the International voice gateway” means allowing other players to
provide international switching and transmission of voice services, the market that is currently a
monopoly to BTC.

6) BTC attains a satisfactory level of tariff rebalancing. December 2007

“BTC attains a satisfactory level of tariff rebalancing” means allowing BTC to significantly complete
their ongoing exercise of adjustment of their tariffs to align them with costs.

7) New entrants may tender for service neutral national licenses 1 July 2009.

Other measures include the establishment of a Universal Service Fund, Privatisation of the Botswana
Telecommunications Corporation as follows: sell a significant proportion of between 40%–49% of
the equity of the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation to a Strategic Equity Partner; allot a
small proportion of shares of about 5% to citizen employees of BTC, sold at a deferred payment
terms in the form of an Employee Share Option Plan; place a proportion of the shares between 15%–
25% in the Privatization Trust Fund which will warehouse the shares for sale at a later date to
Batswana; and retain between 25%–30% of the shares for later sale to the public by way of stock
market listing.

Source: Botswana Telecommunications Authority

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Because the government has announced ways to liberalise the sector, it should consider the
possibility of committing the telecommunication sub-sector in GATS. It can bind existing
liberalisation in the hope of attracting more FDI, or it can offer commitments that pre-signal
liberalisation in accordance with the government’s proposals (with or without a specific
target date). Or it can wait to see when all the liberalisation steps have been finalised.

6.6 Different paths for GATS commitments in insurance and banking

services

Botswana has not committed any of the financial services sectors to GATS. This is despite
the existence of non-discriminatory legislation and an already important presence of foreign
banks. The existing banks tend to have high profits rates, and are amongst the most profitable
in the world with returns on equity of around 40%. Some of the bigger banks have a profit
ratio of 100%. If profits are supranormal more competition may well be needed and GATS
commitments may help to signal this. But it is also possible that high profits are a reflection
of thin markets, sunk costs and risks, as emphasised by the bigger banks. It is unlikely that
the biggest US banks will consider the small market of Botswana attractive – the fixed costs
of going into Botswana are too high. Extending GATS commitments to financial services
will need to coincide with an assessment of the domestic regulatory framework of the
banking and insurance sectors. And this is currently different between insurance and banking
services.

GATS commitments in banking services

The supervision in the banking sector is relatively advanced. As in most other countries, the
supervision of banking is in the hands of the central bank (not a ministry). And while it may
not be carrying out extensive checks, there are existing checks on banks. A revised Banking
Act has given banks more flexibility in conducting their operations and brought banking
legislation in line with changes in the global industry's norms for regulation, supervision and
payments. All indications are that Botswana is ready for further GATS commitments and to
introduce more competition,

GATS commitments in non-banking financial services

The supervision of the pension and insurance industry is less well advanced. There is a
proposal to locate the regulator outside the Ministry and to build capacity in supervision of
the non-banking sector, but so far the ministry is still regulating this. This is different in
countries such as South Africa where the Financial Services Board (FSB) was established as
a statutory body in 1990 and financed by the financial services industry itself, with no
contribution from government. It supervises the control over the activities of non-banking
financial services, and acts in an advisory capacity to the Minister of Finance. In Ireland, the
Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority is the regulator for the direct writing of
industry from Ireland. The insurance regulator in Ireland is under the Minister of State for
Science, Technology and Commerce and the prudential supervision function is carried out by
a unit within the Insurance and Company Law Division of the Ministry.

The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning has been devising a Non-Bank Financial
Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) framework. The NBIFRA could be a
department under the Bank of Botswana, the authority is necessary to regulate pension funds,

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capital markets, provident funds as well as insurances. The Botswana IFSC is engaged in the
legislative process to ensure that the regulator is responsive to the needs of a cross-border
financial services sector.

Because these changes still have to take place it seems better to wait until the new authority
is working before Botswana can make any commitments in GATS negotiations on the non-
banking financial services sector. There is a need for trained staff; supervisory staff has
increased from four in February 2001 to 12 currently.

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 7 Trade in education services

7.1 Overview

It is unlikely that Botswana will become a global education hub in the near future. However,
it can improve the balance on trade in education services and regard the promotion of
effective education services as an import substitution strategy, It can also improve the
relevance of its education sector to the development of other service sectors such as financial
or tourism services. And it can move quickly to build up education expertise in niche areas
such as nurse education, and repeat successful examples from the accountancy sector.

Botswana aims to build an innovative economy for the 21st century. Tertiary education plays
a vital role in this by ensuring an adequate set of skills for the economy’s needs. Trade in
education services plays a unique role in Botswana. Exports of services are low and
Botswana could aim to increase the exports, but imports are very high and these could be
reduced by becoming a regional hub (in key areas) and hence make a greater direct and
indirect impact on GDP and development. Trade in education services relates almost
exclusively to tertiary / higher education services.

Tertiary education is provided by the University of Botswana, Institutes of Health Sciences,

Colleges of Education, Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA), Botswana Accounting
College (BAC) and institutions that are affiliated to universities or colleges outside
Botswana. The main institution operating in the sector is the University of Botswana, which
is public and is the only university currently recognized in the country. However, the role of
the private sector in tertiary education has grown in importance with over 100 private
providers (e.g. technical colleges, and institutions providing vocational training) estimated to
have registered with the Ministry of Education by 2004, and more in the pipeline awaiting
registration by the Tertiary Education Council. Public tertiary education has been slow to
respond to the demand of the labour market.

Finally, a more recent phenomenon evidenced in Botswana is that of off-shore providers who
are increasingly utilising new technology to extend the scope of educational delivery across
national borders.

Overall there has been too little strategic direction towards the tertiary education sector. The
most recent documents on tertiary education bring this out. Towards a Knowledge Society: A
Proposal for a Tertiary Education Policy for Botswana of October 2006 suggested that:

• the tertiary education system is fragmented with no clear oversight

• it has many small institutions failing to reap economies of scale
• there is a proliferation of private institutions offering poor quality programmes at high
costs
• there are concerns about the relevance of quality of tertiary education programmes
• there is a challenge in access and participation
• and a weak institutional climate.

75
The document recommends a new tertiary education policy, but also notes the constraints to
designing an appropriate human resources strategy in a country of 1.7 mn people and tertiary
student education enrolment of 27,000.

It argues for a two-pronged approach:

• research, innovation, and teaching using Universities

• specialised training using colleges and institutions.

This chapter applies a “trade in services” lens to the education sector and its messages are
consistent with the above. An improvement in the University sector is likely to reduce the
demand for imported education services, and there is the possibility that in certain specialised
areas, Botswana could build on its comparative strengths.

7.2 Importance of sector for economic development and poverty

reduction

How does trade in education services affect development?

Education services have a direct effect. Because it is not recorded at market prices the direct
impact of the tertiary education sector on to the economy is usually underestimated in official
statistics, but the real direct contribution in GDP is likely to be significant (as it is a high
value added service).

The indirect effects are more important as tertiary education helps to create the skills
adequate to the economy’s needs, which are still lacking in many sectors of the economy. In
this way, the tertiary education will have a major impact on growth and poverty reduction
(Te Velde, 2005b).

Publicly financed imports of education services will be a drag on public finances, while
exports will help the fiscal position as well as the prospects of an education hub..

The importance of trade in education services in practice

The Botswana government supports students abroad compensating for the lack of good
quality and appropriate opportunities locally. The estimated value of imports of education
services for Botswana is worth P 1bn in government expenditure. This may even be bigger if
one considers the private component of this spending (e.g. private firms sponsored
scholarship, family support). The data are recorded under the BoP category travel related
imports.

Estimates for exports are around P 21.5 mn in 2004 including living expenses of students
(see Table 23). This value represents the bulk of Botswana’s exports in educational services
and has doubled over the past 5 years.

76
Table 23 Estimates of total tuition and fees paid to the University of Botswana by
foreign students (Pula)

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Tuition 5,650,800 8,079,000 7,671,400 11,050,100 12,258,600 12,241,550
Other Fees 329,378 367,008 468,285 563,677 600,860 593,460
Living Expenses 4,838,044 5,840,116 5,959,221 8,621,835 9,241,060 8,706,550
TOTAL 10,818,222 14,286,124 14,098,906 20,235,612 22,100,520 21,541,560
Foreign Students
(number and % 854 922 801 1,037 997 885
in total) (8.4%) (7.9%) (6.4%) (7.8%) (6.4%) (5.7%)
Source: draft unpublished paper

The direct weight of the tertiary education in GDP is likely to be relatively low as education
is typically a non commercial service in Botswana. The fairly widespread basic education is
likely to keep pressure on the demand for tertiary education Botswana. The contribution of
the sector to total employment (private and parastatal) is limited (2.5% in 2005), albeit
increasing.

How well is Botswana doing compared to other countries?

Based on net enrolment rates in tertiary education, it would appear that the sector in
Botswana is still fairly under-developed relatively to Mauritius and South Africa (see Table
15). Based on OECD data, student outbound mobility from Botswana is extremely high (with
only Lesotho higher rates) compared to other African countries. Like Namibia, Swaziland
and Lesotho, almost all outward students go to South Africa (table 24).

Tuition fees in Botswana are comparable to those in other developing countries. Fees range
US$2484- US$3270 for undergraduate and US$1987 – US$2515 for postgraduates. The fees
for undergraduates in Mauritius are US$2,148 and US$3,938 for postgraduates, and
US$3570 in Singapore. In South Africa undergraduate fees range from US$1990–US$6050.
In the Caribbean, fees are US$2296 for Humanities and Social Sciences, US$2296 for
Sciences, US$2631 for Engineering and US$9584 for Medicine.

77
Table 24 Student Mobility
Region Students from a given country Top five destinations (host countries) for Number Net flow of
studying abroad (outbound mobile outbound mobile students of mobile students
students)a (The number of students from given country students (Inbound -
studying in the host countries is shown in from outbound)
brackets) abroad -
inbound
Country or # Outboun Gross # Net
territory d outbound flow
mobility enrolment ratio
ratio (%) ratio (%)
Botswana 9,471 71.6 4.5 South Africa (7,012), Australia (792), ... ... ...
United Kingdom (700), U.S.A. (488),
Malaysia (152)-2
Kenya 14,123 13.0 0.4 U.S.A. (7,381), United Kingdom (3,083), ... ... ...
Australia (1,115), India (521) , Canada
(341)-4
Lesotho 4,537 74.3 2.0 South Africa (4,366) , United Kingdom 116 -4,421 -72.4
(42), U.S.A. (39), Australia (15)
Madagasc 3,995 9.5 0.2 France (3,487), U.S.A. (109), Germany 1,219 -2,776 -6.6
ar (100), Switzerland (80), Canada (41)-4
Mauritius 7,224 40.6 7.0 France (1,893), South Africa (1,732) , 75 -7,149 -40.2
United Kingdom (1,646), Australia (860),
India (366)
Mozambiq 2,366 10.6 0.1 Portugal (1,066) , South Africa (815) , ... ... ...
ue U.S.A. (93), United Kingdom (71),
Australia (67)
Namibia 6,847 58.1 3.5 South Africa (6,530) , U.S.A. (95), United 1,026 -5,821 -49.4
Kingdom (74), Australia (24), Germany
(16)
Rwanda 1,929 7.6 0.2 France (482), Belgium (376), U.S.A. (275), 92 -1,837 -7.3
Burundi (217)-2, United Kingdom (82),
Germany (77)
Seychelles 457 ... 6.3 United Kingdom (189), Australia (117), . -457 …
France (32), New Zealand (25) , Mauritius
(15)
South 5,619 0.8 0.1 U.S.A. (1,971), United Kingdom (1,408), 49,979 44,360 6.2
Africa Australia (643), Cuba (340), Germany (196)
Swaziland 2,106 31.9 1.7 South Africa (1,882) , U.S.A. (86), United 127 -1,979 -30.0
Kingdom (67), Lesotho (17) , Australia (13)
Uganda 2,454 2.8 0.1 United Kingdom (885), U.S.A. (696), ... ... ...
Germany (121), India (93) , Tanzania (82)
United 3,907 9.1 0.1 U.S.A. (1,471), United Kingdom (1,053), 275 -3,632 -8.5
Republic South Africa (283) , Australia (119),
of Germany (115)
Tanzania
Zambia 3,610 14.7 0.3 South Africa (1,363) , U.S.A. (859), United ... ... ...
Kingdom (541), Australia (317), Namibia
(228)
Zimbabwe 16,669 29.9 1.1 South Africa (10,586) , United Kingdom ... ... ...
(p) (2,741), U.S.A. (1,999), Australia (892),
Namibia (71)
Notes: Outbound mobility ratio: mobile students coming from a country/region as a percentage of all tertiary
students in that country/region. Gross outbound enrolment ratio: (outbound GER): mobile students coming
from a country/region as a percentage of the population of tertiary student age in their home country. This
indicator expresses the volume of studies abroad on the same scale as the volume of studies at home as
measured by tertiary gross enrolment ratios. They can be used together to show the total volume of tertiary
studies of a country. Net mobility rate: the net inflow of mobile students to a country which is the number of
mobile students studying in a country minus its number of students abroad as a percentage of the total tertiary
enrolment in the country/region.
Source: OECD.

78
The 2006 budget speech signalled that there are already some measures, though slow in
coming, that help to provide an adequate education for Batswana in Botswana, thus
potentially lowering the government outlays on subsidising placements abroad and increasing
the potential of Botswana to become a hub in certain education programmes. The
government aims to maximise training opportunities, while reducing student placements
abroad, e.g. through sponsorship in local private tertiary institutions that meet the criteria for
registration and accreditation with the Botswana Training Authority and the Tertiary
Education Council. The design for the expansion of the University of Botswana has started
and construction of the project is estimated to cost P165 million during 2006/2007. The
establishment of a medical school has also started with the Founding Head of the School of
Medicine already identified and 240 Batswana medical students placed in partner medical
schools throughout the world. The first 15 graduates are expected in January 2007.

If Botswana wants to succeed in becoming an education hub it needs to press ahead with its
plan to strengthen science and technology development. Parliament approved a bill in 2005
for the establishment of the Botswana International University of Science and Technology,
which is estimated to cost P5 billion. The University is planned to have the capacity to admit
10.000 students by 2016. Other projects for tertiary education include; construction of the
Oodi and Selebi-Phikwe Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, with a target enrolment
of 1200 students from 2006. The Francistown College of Technical and Vocational
Education, which has a target enrolment of 1400, is under construction this year.

Comparative and competitive advantages

A key issue is whether Botswana can enhance tertiary education and become more of a net
student importer. Botswana can rely on a few factors that may make it a potentially viable
hub for tertiary education services:

• high level of security throughout the country

• high level of tertiary education spending
• fairly good support infrastructure in place (e.g. IT, telecommunications)
• knowledge in certain areas due to the country’s characteristics (e.g. HIV/AIDS, mining,
engineering, and perhaps tourism and financial services)

While the number of inbound students has doubled over the last few years, and this can be
seen as some success, the major issue is what education types could Botswana provide to rely
less on imported services.

79
7.3 Summary of relevant regulatory frameworks

The tertiary education sector is regulated by the Tertiary Education Act (2005). The
registration of institutions is regulated by the Tertiary Education Council under the
supervision of the Ministry of Education. There does not seem to be an explicit prohibition
for the establishment of foreign institutions, although there is none currently operating in
Botswana. Below is an excerpt of the legal text which describes the requirements for the
registration of an institution of tertiary education.
“Before issuing the certificate of registration to a private tertiary institution, the Council must
be satisfied that:

(a) the registration of a private tertiary institution is in the interests of tertiary education in
Botswana;

(b) there is proof of the continuing need for the institution and its services;

(c) the institution makes and will continue to make a significant contribution towards
broadening the availability of and access to tertiary education in the country;

(d) the institution stands a good chance of operating successfully and that it will continue to
do so independent of public funding;

(e) the institution has reached and stands a good chance of maintaining high
organisational and academic standards.”

(Art. 4 Tertiary Institutions (Registration Of Operating Public And Private Tertiary

Institutions) Regulations, 2005)

The regulation is unclear: on the one hand registration could involve plenty of hurdles that
need to overcome by a (foreign) private provider. On the other hand, it could be easy to
register. The latter seems a challenge taken up in a recent TEC publication, and reflects the
recent proliferation of private institution s offering poor quality programmes at high costs.

At the regional level, SADC countries signed a SADC Protocol on Education and Training,
intended to harmonise the various regulations and standards of education (including tertiary)
across the region and to promote the exchange of students and researchers across tertiary
education institutions.

7.4 Analysis of key constraints

Constraints related to external conditions, domestic regulation and supply capacity are likely
to affect both a strengthening domestic tertiary education and the promotion of export of
education services.

80
External

1. Lack of links with foreign institutions, both in-country or at arms-length?

There is a need to assess the possible effects of GATS commitments (mode 3) in the
education sector. Mauritius, Dubai, Singapore and the Caribbean are all well advanced in
terms of thinking about attracting private investors in education.

2. Incomplete recognition of domestic credentials in other countries

Currently the Botswana high school leaving certificate is not valid to enter tertiary
education in South Africa, where a further year of courses is required. Such lack of
recognition increases the imports of educational services for Botswana.

Regulatory

1. Lack of an appropriate regulatory framework for dealing with the new modes of
education
A recent phenomenon in Botswana is that of off-shore providers who are increasingly
utilising new technology to extend the scope of educational delivery across national
borders with important consequences for quality assurance, the protection of student and
intellectual property rights, cultural maintenance, and national responsiveness. The
recent Act does not seem to promote such private providers.

2. Rigid work permit regulations

In the education sector, skills are key to the success of the services. For this there needs
to be the possibility of freely sourcing such skills (e.g. lecturers). A key constraint behind
the new Science and Technology institute is the lack of suitable staff. However, in some
cases there are implicit or explicit objectives to reduce the number of foreign staff
workers, regardless of whether this is good or not for the institution.

Supply capacity:

3. Lack of sufficient capacity to satisfy the demand for education

The limited capacity (in terms of infrastructure, skills, land) of tertiary education causes a
high level of current imports of education. The need for an import substitution strategy
would need to consider both the high level of public spending and the potential positive
externalities stemming from education imports via mode 2. A good example of an import
substitution strategy is the BAC, see box below. Such an example might have lessons for
other sectors or niche areas.

4. Slow responsiveness of public tertiary education institutions to changes in the

labour market
As it is highlighted in the recent Tertiary Education Policy this is related to the public
sector’s incapacity of establishing linkages with the market, and of responding
sufficiently in terms of curricula adaptation to improve the employability of their
graduates.

Private institutions have been more responsive to labour market demand and when certain
employers needed certain types of skills have been able to quickly come up with programmes
to meet these demands. However, many of these institutions are small, far from being well
established and are largely disconnected from the core of the tertiary education system.

81
7.5 Possible implications for trade in services policy

Two particularly important policy questions are: how can Botswana reduce its reliance on
imports of education services? And, what measures may Botswana put in place to increase its
exports? Policy measures at all levels (related to external conditions, domestic regulation and
supply capacity) can help by affecting both a strengthening domestic tertiary education and
the promotion of export of education services.

A major new initiative is the planning of the Botswana International University of Science
and Technology, although the opening has already been delayed by at least two years until
2009. In April 2005, the government of Botswana and the UNDP suggested in its Human
Development Report that science is a tool for the country's economic and social
development, calling for increased funding to enhance research in universities.

The idea of developing an internationally recognised S&T is suitable as long as one considers
the Botswana’s capacity in trying to develop world class education in selected S&T subjects.
For this S&T institution and the other technical colleges and institutes it is important that
they are connected well with the private sector and that graduates obtain useful professional
experience which is recognised elsewhere. On the other hand, the new and existing
universities will need to work together and focus on complementarities. There has also been
a second university in Mauritius but there are still questions about why the second university
cam into existence and whether the two universities can work together.

Botswana will not be able to withstand overall competition in education services from
countries such as South Africa. However, if Botswana wants to become a world class
regional hub for education in certain subjects, it will also need to be open to foreign tertiary
education institutes either through subsidiaries or in the form of partnerships with well-
known business schools and universities, e.g. using agreements with the EU. Dubai,
Singapore and now Mauritius have increasingly been reforming their tertiary education
sector to become more open, attract foreign business schools and become attractive for
foreign students. Botswana may also have to learn from South Africa. The key question is
what areas or subject. A detailed answer would need further research, but promising areas
include health education (HIV/AIDS), mining and engineering related, and perhaps tourism
and financial services.

Becoming a trade in education services hub does not happen overnight when the economic
fundamentals are lacking (although when economic fundamentals are right a few changes in
the law and mode of attracting foreign schools can make a big difference, as in Singapore
and Dubai). But filling a skills gap as part of an import substitution strategy is not impossible
either, as we describe in Box 13.

82
Box 13 The Botswana Accountancy College; filling a skills gap quickly

The Botswana Accountancy College (BAC) is a private college that provides business
training in Accountancy, Computing, Business Management and Insurance. It is a private
sector college subsidised by the Government of Botswana and Debswana. The college aims
to provide world class tuition to reduce Botswana's reliance on foreign expertise. The
qualifications that students are prepared for (AAT) are all internationally recognised and
provide an excellent start to careers in business and technology. The majority of students are
sponsored by the government of Botswana, while some are sponsored by private companies
and others self-sponsored. The aim is to become self-financing in the medium term.

It was founded in 1996 when the country had only four registered Botswana accountants.
Now, there are 400 registered accountants. For instance in 2001, it produced a total of 26
ACCA and CIMA graduates last year. In 1998 a total of 21 students qualified at ACCA and
CIMA. In the first year of operation, 12 students qualified. All of the qualifications that BAC
provides are internationally recognised and the college is one of few outside Britain to be
awarded the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants "Quality through partnership"
award.

The example of BAC shows that a public–private partnership can build up a tertiary
education college from scratch and fill an important skills gap.

Source: BAC website and interview.

When thinking about the key areas in which Botswana could focus on, it is often suggested
that Botswana could think about training of nurses. Box 14 examines this in more detail.

83
Box 14 Nurses education, migration and development

The
Not migration of health countries
many developing workers, and
havenurses
signedin particular, has become
up their (tertiary) a hotly sector
education debatedtotopic
GATS.in relation to
Botswana’s
This would provide a signal that Botswana is open for foreign investment in the education that the
health sector and development of the country as a whole. The government acknowledges
loss of health workers is a major challenge. There are various causes and consequences of the migration of
sector. However, there are currently such major developments affecting the role of the public
nurses and depending on this there will be different policy options to maximise development in Botswana. : A
sector in education
preliminary provision
survey article that
finds the it might be premature for Botswana to do so.13 It could be
following
better to ask the EU to foster partnerships with Botswana (in EPAs), to ask SADC to
•negotiate good recognition
Causes: Factors agreements
that cause migration for Botswana’s
of nurses tertiary
from Botswana education
include institutes
low wages, heavyatworkload,
the poor
SADC level, and for Botswana to provide an enabling regulatory environment for local and
working conditions (e.g. lack of adequate protection, high patient-nurse ratio), poor management, lack of
foreign private
promotion providers
prospects of tertiary
and career education,
development, and where
and inflexibility possible
of time use (e.g.
allocation public-private
nurses are often not
partnerships.
allowed to work part-time). The high incidence of HIV/AIDS worsens working conditions further. It is not
clear which type of interventions would be most effective.
• Scale: Emigration rates of nurses (and other health
` professionals) in Botswana are substantial, at about the
average of sub Saharan Africa. The data vary in availability and quality, and based on data in receiving
countries indicate that some 7% (less than 600) of the total workforce of nurses and midwives of Botswana
origin were working in receiving countries such as South Africa and main OECD countries.
• Effects: There is debate in Botswana about the effects of migration, particularly what it means in terms of loss
of key health workers. That said, the nurses per 1000 inhabitants ratio still stands at 2.65 and is twice that in
sub Saharan Africa but below that in Namibia and South Africa. On the positive side, remittances from
migrant nurses are likely to be significant: on World Bank data worker remittances and compensation from
employees are at least 0.5% of GDP (remittances by nurses to Botswana are not known). Other benefits of
emigration to Botswana may include increased access to capital, increased trade in goods and services, and
return migration. While these positive effects have not yet been quantified they should not be ignored in the
debate.

An increase in the supply of nurses is a straightforward way to tackle shortfalls in the nursing workforce. The
training and education of health workers in a world with a growing demand for health workers is an appropriate
export strategy for countries with a comparative advantage in this, i.e. where the investment climate is right for
good quality and cheap education of nurses. The Philippines for example provides training to health workers,
especially nurses, for migration as part of a wider policy to encourage worker migration. Filipino nurses
constitute 76% of foreign nurse graduates in the United States. Similarly, Cuba has exported thousands of health
workers as part of its bilateral relations with other countries and it retains some part of the incomes of doctors
when working abroad. Countries such as China, India, Indonesia and Viet Nam are either actively involved or
contemplating export strategies (Commander, 2004). Given the shortage of nurses in Australia and New Zealand
investment by Pacific island governments and households in nurse training may constitute an efficient use of
economic resources. Policies encouraging investment in source countries (including improvements to the
investment climate for investors) may be more effective in fostering development than policies directly
discouraging emigration.

Not all countries will have the comparative advantage and institutional capacity to implement such export
strategies. The WHO (2006) notes that “these strategies have not been systematically evaluated, but experience
indicates that they are resource intensive and require the establishment of institutional capacity for training and
accreditation, and careful management of interactions with the internal or domestic health worker market.”

Botswana’s tertiary education system for nurses is based on the public provision of free education for
professional nurses. In order to expand the training capacity for nurses the government may need to allow the
private
13 sector to train nurses. The case of the Philippines, where accredited institutions have increased from 210
Some 44 countries, including Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, have scheduled tertiary education services
in 1999 to 470 in 2006, shows that private institutions can drive a rapid scaling-up of the education capacity, as
in GATS. This has led to some concerns relating to beneficiaries of education subsidies in Jamaica. The
long as therehad
government is to
a growing demand.
make it clear Botswana could
that publicly-funded also improve
educational conditions
institutions forincluded
are not the immigration of of
in the scope nurses from
neighbouring countries.
the commitment to liberalise tertiary educational services as that commitment applies only to private institutions
engaged in the commercial supply of these services. Many countries are now actively seeking to attract offshore
Source: Calì(e.g.
universities andmedical
te Velde (2007),
schools, “Migration
business of nurses from Botswana, What are the possible effects and policy
schools).
options?” Draft paper for BTPP/BIDPA.

84
 8 Conclusions
The main conclusions and policy implications are summarised in the policy brief at the
beginning. The report also includes the following detailed suggestions

Tourism services
• Development of an explicit tourism plan that can be used by the stakeholders as a context
for other activities.
• Use investment promotion and trade negotiations of other services to improve the
provision of support services
• Obtain more effective regulation of work permits
• Maintain existing land leasing policy
• Provide appropriate and good quality skills
• Increase tourism marketing (for secondary sites) including in Southern Africa
• Improve air access

Financial services
• Improve discussions at the SADC level on integration of financial services
• Strengthen the network of double taxation agreements
• Monitor work permit issues in the financial services sector
• Improving the links between formal training to professional experience and enhancing
education programmes tailored to the specific needs of the sector
• Improved connection to more and higher quality fibre optic cables in order to provide an
environment conducive for back office services. Consider GATS commitments to
facilitate investment in the ICT sector
• Consider taking GATS commitments in financial services sub-sectors, but need to assess
appropriateness of current regulatory capacities, particularly for insurance services.

Education services
• Reduce reliance on imports of education services by speeding up plans for the Botswana
International University of Science and Technology and the by expanding the capacity of
the University of Botswana.
• Open up to foreign tertiary education institutes either through subsidiaries or in the form
of partnerships with well-known business schools and universities, e.g. using agreements
with the EU.
• Negotiate recognition agreements for Botswana’s tertiary education institutes at the level
of SADC.

Transportation services

• Botswana’s restrictive policies keep air access very expensive compared to other regional
routes.
• While there may be negative consequences for the 320 employees of Air Botswana if it
has to face more competition, and while there may also be some short term uncertainty in
case Air Botswana failed to secure certain routes in the face of competition, a gradual
move to liberalisation coupled with upgrading and if appropriate privatisation of the
national carrier seems a suitable way forward.
• It is important to promote the idea of an air access unit, with inputs from the Ministries
responsible for Trade and Tourism, in order to steer and analyse the restructuring process.

85
Table 25 zooms in on the implications for Botswana’s position on trade in services
negotiations

Table 25 Botswana – issues of interest for international trade negotiations

Tourism Financial Education (tert)

GATS Sector is already Botswana could Too soon to make GATS
open, and committed consider GATS commitments, but
with success. commitments in review legislation and
banking services, education strategy to
New regulations but may need a promote private and
may seem at odds more phased foreign tertiary
with the spirit of approach in education institutes in
GATS commitments insurance. key areas alongside
plans for new public
Tertiary education
institutes.
EPA Ask for Mode 4 Commit banking Partnerships with
access. services to the EU, universities (cf
Supply capacity would signal Mauritius, Caribbean),
measures in the area competition. student exchanges
of tourism
development
programmes (EDF)
SADC Air transport access Develop regional Mutual recognition of
(towards more open markets for qualifications amongst
skies agreements) financial products. countries, beginning at
Coordinated tourism SADC level
promotion efforts.

86
 Appendix 1 Services requests from EC

Commitments requested by the EC and its member countries to Botswana in the framework
of GATS 2000 requests (from Cassim and Keeton 2006).

Horizontal Commitments

• Specify criteria to be fulfilled to obtain approval from Bank of Botswana with

regard to fees due to non-resident service suppliers (Modes 1&2).
• Specify criteria to be fulfilled to obtain licence for juridical persons (Mode3)
• Remove the requirement whereby locals are given priority over foreign investors to
purchase shares in resident companies (Mode 3).
• Remove labour market testing for intra-corporate transfers of managers,
executives and specialists, in addition to persons with a degree or equivalent
qualification transferring for training or experience (Mode 4).

• Remove restrictions relating to Business Visitors (foreign services suppliers

seeking temporary entry to hold meetings, conclude contracts or set up
commercial presence).

Vertical Commitments

Business Services Computer and Related Services

• Make full commitments under Modes 1,2 and 3.

Other Business Related Services

• Make full commitments under Modes 1,2 and 3 for ‘Management Consulting
Services’ and ‘Services Relating to Management Consulting’.

Telecommunications Services
• Make commitments to open the sector to full competition and foreign investment,
especially in data transmission related services.
• Make commitments to the reference paper of the Basic Telecommunications
negotiations.

Construction and Related Engineering Services

• Make full commitments under Mode 3.

Environmental Services
• Consider making commitments in terms of market access and national treatment of ‘Water
for Human Use and Waste Water Management’, ’Solid/Hazardous Waste Management’,
’Protection of Ambient Air and Climate’ and ‘Remediation and Cleanup of Soil and Water’
(Mode 3).

Financial Services
• Follow the classification given in the Annex on Financial Services.
• Make commitments (Mode 3) to accept deposits, lending, financial
leasing, transmission services and guarantees.

87
• Make commitments in Mode 1 for provision of provision and transfer of financial
information, and auxiliary financial services.

Insurance
• Commit direct life and non-life insurance (Mode3).
• Make commitments in Mode 1 for reinsurance and retrocession.

Banking and Other Financial Services

• Make commitments (Mode 3) to accept deposits, lending, financial leasing,
transmission services and guarantees.
• Make commitments in Mode 1 for provision of provision and transfer of financial
information; and auxiliary financial services.

Tourism and Travel Related Services

• For ‘Hotels and Restaurants including Catering’ make commitments in Mode 3 to clarify
the requirements that a foreign service provider is required to meet and the extent to which
the requirements amount to a limitation in national treatment.

88
Appendix 2 Preliminary sectoral results based on consultations
1) Business Services

Current capacity to trade

This is a very heterogeneous services sector, with the boundaries with other services sectors
not clear, so it is difficult to obtain a precise picture for all modes of trade in the various sub-
sectors. At a general level there seems to be little current capacity to export via mode 3:
domestic firms tend to have a too limited size to expand abroad, although there may be
exceptions in specific activities (e.g. Turnstar Holding in the real estate services sector);
some niches seem to be possible for individual professionals and firms especially through
mode 1 and 4 (e.g. legal services, engineering consultancy, computer related services).

This dampened view seems in contrast with BOP data, on the basis of which we estimate
exports of business services of P 543m in 200514, with a huge growth over 2004 (P 110m).
However P 464m of this exports come from mining related services (due to De Beers
explorations), which have increased ten-fold from 2004. If we take out this seasonal
component (related to traditional exports), exports in this sector total a more modest P 79m,
which is higher than P 67m in 2004, but much lower than P 142m in 2002. Taken at their
face value, these data confirm the relatively little export capacity in this wide range of
activities (the largest sub-sector legal, accounting and management has exports of P 34m)
and suggest that Botswana’s relative competitiveness in these activities may not be
increasing.15

Botswana appears to suffer from shortages of specific skilled labour (e.g. professional
accountants, management consultants) and it seems to have a comparative disadvantage in
business services especially with respect to South Africa, from where much of these services
are currently sourced via mode 3 and mode 1. Mode 4 imports seem to be also important for
services such as accountancy: for example around 80% of the 1000 professional chartered
accountants registered with the Botswana Institute of Accountants are foreigners (mainly
from Sri Lanka, India, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Ghana and the
UK). This tendency for Botswana to be a net importer of business related services is
confirmed by imports figures, which in 2005 amounted to P 377m and P 228m without
considering mining related services (down from 354m in 2004).

Importance in GDP and development

Data from the Bank of Botswana indicate a significant, albeit declining, direct importance of
this sector (measured as real estate and business services) in GDP at around 3.4% in 2004/05.
This share is lower than the average towards the end of the nineties (4-4.5%). The indirect
contribution to GDP is also important, as the sector provides crucial inputs into business
competitiveness (e.g. marketing, legal and computer related services). In particular the ICT
appears to be one of the main areas which needs to be strengthened in order to improve the

14
We aggregate the following sectors: Computer services, Merchanting, Leasing, Legal, accounting,
management,etc, Advertising, mkt research,etc, Research & development, Architect, engineering, tech. services
etc. and Agriculture, mining etc. related services. We do not take into account Other Business Services
category, as this seems to capture a wide variety of services sector not necessarily related to business services (it
is a sort of residual category, which people use when they do not know how to classify transactions).
15
However the steep increase in other business services may in fact offset the decrease in the other
sub-sectors. Given the information available, it is difficult to assess the extent to which this is the case.

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relative competitive position of Botswana in most services sectors, including tourism,
financial services, other business services.

In terms of the sectoral share in employment, the only data available aggregates the sector
with financial services. The total figure is 6.7% in 2003, from which the share of business
services may be estimated at around 3%, keeping the same proportion as that of the share in
GDP between the two sectors. As this sector tends to be typically intensive in skilled labour,
most of the employment generated is not likely to be directly related to poverty reduction.
Somewhat an exception to this rule may be the business process outsourcing sector (BPO),
especially cal centres, which may generate relevant effects also for less and medium skilled
(and thus generally poorer) people. However, BPO has not produced any significant
contribution to employment so far.

Box The business services sector in GATS

The GATS category business services is a very heterogeneous category of services. It comprises several
sub-sectors sectors. In particular the GATS categorization includes:

- Professional services (including among others: legal, accounting, architectural, engineering,

medical and dental, veterinary, nursing services)
- Computer and related services (including among others consultancy related to hardware
installation, software implementation, data processing services)
- Research and Development services
- Real Estate services
- Rental/Leasing services
- Other business services (including among others: advertising, market research, management
consulting and services incidental to agriculture and mining)

Such a categorization creates some ambiguities when comparing business services with other service
sectors, to which some of the business related services may appear in name to belong to (e.g. medical and
nursing services would be more properly thought of as health services; engineering services may also fall
under construction services). These types of overlap may create challenges between the categorization that
is used by GATS and the classification that is used for collection of data at the domestic level. For instance,
we treat medical and nursing services in the health services sector.

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Possible importance of policy measures
Because there is a wide variety of sub-sectors, there will be an equally varied set of policy
measures that are potentially important. We highlight some potentially relevant such policies,
based on external, regulatory and supply capacity constraints which have become apparent in
consultations and from recent documents. The points are listed in terms of whether or not
stakeholders suggested a need for certain policy measures.

External:
- Need for the development of a wide network of bilateral Mutual Recognition Agreement
(MRA) to facilitate market access abroad for professional services providers (e.g. architects,
engineers)
- Need for improved access in other countries’s markets, distinguishing between regional
approaches such as SADC and multilateral approaches at the GATS level, and depending on
market access commitments already made.

Regulatory:
- A broad need for introducing specific regulatory frameworks to enhance the quality of
services for professions such as accountants, architects, engineers, advertising professionals.

Supply capacity:
- Need for improving the quality of skills available, e.g. by linking formal education to on-
the-job training, or creating centres for excellence in certain professions.

Stakeholder views
There is a significant interest in the development of BPO activities, exploiting the
International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) platform to make Botswana a potential
regional (or African) hub for business services, such as management of companies’ inbound
telephone calls through call centres, administrative and shared services activities.

There is also some recognition of the possible importance of developing exports in high
value added professional services, such as legal, architecture, design engineering and some
computer related services, although the development of such activities is very recent. The
country in 2001 was ahead of South Africa in per capita exports of ICT services (with 51
USD per capita).16

Finally the government has also recognised the importance of the ICT sector and it has
included it among the priority sectors in its Vision 2016 programme.

Complementarities with previous studies

There are very few studies available. Therefore, there would be a strong possibility of
enriching the available information either through a complete case study or through an
analysis of one or more specific sub-sectors. A study on the sector may also help to discuss
trade and competitiveness data in several of the sub-sectors.

16
Source: World Economic Forum, “Global Information Technology Report, 2003-2004”

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Possible role models in other developing countries
BPO activities have been spreading quickly throughout some of the developing world,
starting in India which is still the main export centre (via mode 1), and spreading to African
countries such as Mauritius, Ghana and South Africa. Several developing countries in South
Asia and Africa have also exported in various business services sectors via mode 4 (e.g.
accountants, engineers, software programmers). Botswana has imported some of these
services via mode 4 from other developing countries. Mode 4 exports faces capacity
constraints as well as regulatory constraints.

2) Communication Services

Current capacity to trade

As for most other developing countries, Botswana has a limited capacity to export via mode
3 in communication services, the main export mode for the sector. Mobile
telecommunication is dominated by foreign owned firms (British and Portuguese-South
African). Trade is growing rapidly according to BOP data with imports (P 181m) far bigger
than exports (P 85m) in 2005.

Importance in GDP and development

The sector has a slightly declining and fairly low direct importance in GDP. According to
BoB data, the weight of postal and telecommunications sectors was around 1.2% in 2004/05.
This is surprisingly lower than the average share of the previous ten years (1.4%), given the
rapid spread of mobile telecommunication throughout the country in recent years (mobile
phones are currently three times as many than fixed line). Part of the explanation of the
decline in the value of the sector may lie in the lower prices charged by telephone operators
following the increased competition in the sector.

The indirect effect of the sector on the economy is potentially large as communication
services (and telecommunications in particular) are crucial inputs into various sectors
(especially services) of the economy, e.g. cost of telecommunications is perceived to be a
major constraint to the development of Botswana as a hub in certain activities (e.g. sales and
reservation in tourism, BPO, administrative and shared services); the relatively poor quality
of data exchange processes is believed to have been a major cause of Barclays’ decision to
relocate part of its back office operations away from Botswana (via IFSC).

The total share in employment of the transport and communication sector was 3.6% in 2003,
with around half estimated to be in the communication sector. While the direct contribution
in employment is moderate but clearly present it is likely to have relatively low direct effects
on poverty reduction insofar the majority of the employment consists of skilled labour (with
potential exceptions, as for postal services). The indirect effects on poverty reduction are
likely to be more important via increasing accessibility to telecommunication services for
poorer household.

Possible importance of policy measures

Several regulatory constraints to the development of the sector are being addressed through
the current phase of liberalisation, including: the opening up of mobile and fixed telephone
services, where all three existing operators may freely compete (two mobile operators and
one fixed line monopolist), the liberalisation of the voice over internet protocol (VOIP) and
liberalisation of long distance phone calls market. Alongside this liberalisation process, there
are various policy issues which may need further attention.

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External:
- Need for a greater understanding of the potential role for GATS commitments in
accompanying the process of liberalization, e.g. by carefully evaluating the requests made to
Botswana in telecommunications by other countries.

Regulatory:
- Need to assess whether current regulation on electronic data exchange and on internet
protocols is coherent with the desire to develop a BPO hub;
- need to evaluate the potential effects of the current phase of liberalization in the sector
(TLC, VOIP) and what this means for external trade in services negotiations.

Supply capacity:
- Need to assess the viability and importance of optic fibre cable initiatives in enhancing
the quality and accessibility of telecommunication services.

Stakeholder views
There is a general recognition of the crucial importance of the sector in improving the
competitiveness of the economy. Such recognition has been one of the major drivers of the
current process of liberalisation. On the other hand there is little perceived export potential
for the sector. This is mainly related to the small size of the domestic market, which has not
allowed to develop a domestic player of sufficient scale to export.

Complementarities with previous studies

There is at least one study on the telecommunications (TLC) sector in Botswana (Monnane
2003) and one on the negotiating position of SADC countries (Hodge 2003). Therefore there
may be the possibility of complementing the information available on GATS negotiations at
the SADC level with an analysis of Botswana’s possible negotiating options informed by a
study of current challenges and opportunities faced by the sector.

Possible role models in other developing countries

There are only few examples of successful international expansion in the TLC sector in
Africa, mainly from large developing economies, which seem to have been able to exploit
relatively large domestic markets (e.g. South Africa, Egypt).

3) Construction and engineering services

Current capacity to trade

The current export capacity in this sector appears to be limited with little work carried out
abroad by domestic firms. This is in line with Botswana’s factor endowments, which are
scarce in labour, with a relatively high level of human capital. Notwithstanding these stylised
facts, data show an upward trend in trade of construction services for Botswana, with exports
at P62 m in 2005 and imports at P52 m. These data do not incorporate the significant
presence of foreign owned firms (Chinese, South African, European and American), which
would be likely to generate imports via mode 3.

Importance in GDP and development

The sector represents an important, albeit declining, share of GDP (4.5% in 2004/05). It is
dominated by public spending in infrastructure, which has been declining in the last few
years following a reallocation of public resources towards other sectors (e.g. health,

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education). The indirect relevance of GDP is not so high as the direct one and is mainly
related to the role of construction as an input for economic agents, especially government and
households. However, the sector is one of the largest contributors to employment in the
country, with a constant share above 10% of total employment over the past 10 years. Most
of this employment is composed of relatively low skills and informal labour, with potentially
significant effects on poverty reduction.

Importance of policy measures

Given the limited ability of domestic firms to compete abroad, the policy issues to be
addressed mainly concern domestic regulation and supply capacity, while we did not
encounter much discussion about external constraints.

Regulatory/supply capacity:
- Need for increasing the availability of skilled labour (esp. construction engineers and
quantity surveyors), e.g. by facilitating work permits’ procedures and/or expanding the
supply of specific skills.
- Potential for improving government procurement operations, which currently seem to
constrain the orderly development of the domestic sector, e.g. via better designed tenders and
more efficient payment systems.

External:
- There are only few formal trade constraints at the international level, and they do not
seem to be the major cause of the lack of exporting activities by Botswana’s firms. However
requirements to participate in public tender processes in South Africa are fairly cumbersome
and their streamlining may be beneficial to potential export activities.
- Further, Botswana has received GATS requests to make commitments in the construction
sector.

Stakeholder views
The construction sector appears to have little potential for exports, as it is already dominated
by large foreign owned firms from South African, China and large international groups.
Some recovery of the domestic market may occur in the near future spurred by the operations
of the new international diamond trading centre.

Complementarities with previous studies

There is a comprehensive case study on the sector produced by BIDPA (Kaboyakgosi and
Sengwaketse 2003). A further study may complement this analysis of the supply capacity and
regulatory framework with an analysis of negotiating options and some further issues of
domestic regulation (e.g. with reference to public tender processes) .

Possible role models in other developing countries

There are a few countries there are active in exporting construction services, including some
Arab states and South Africa.

4) Distributional services

Current capacity to trade

The sector facilitates trading capacity but it tends to generate very little international
transactions, therefore it is not adequately recorded in BoP data.

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The main mode of services supply across borders is via commercial presence (mode 3). In
the case of Botswana this mode is likely to generate mainly imports, related to the FDI in the
retail sector in Botswana (mainly by South African companies, such as Pick ‘n Pay and
ShopRite). A local supermarket chain is emerging.

Importance in GDP and development

The direct contribution of the sector to the economy is very significant at around 10%
according to Bank of Botswana data (including trade and water and electricity services). The
indirect effects seem to be less relevant on the production side (except for energy
distribution), although they are important on the consumption side as efficient wholesale
trade and retailing services will affect the household budget.

Distribution is probably the largest single contributor in total employment of all services
sectors. Data from CSO estimate a contribution in employment for the entire commerce
sector of around 19% in 2003, most of which is likely to be accounted for by distribution
activities. A large part of this employment is possibly accounted for by unskilled labour
employed in small retailing and trading activities, thus significantly contributing to poverty
reduction.

Importance of policy measures

Potential policy measures relate to:

Regulatory constraints:
- Potential to evaluate effects of liberalization of the utility sector, especially considering
that energy distribution is one of the priority areas of SADC. The sector is already largely
open and liberalized, except for energy distribution, which is dominated by Botswana Power
Corporation (BPC).

External constraints
- Need for GATS impact assessment (and need for complementary policies). While
Botswana has already allowed several foreign owned distribution companies (e.g. super
markets), it has not made any commitments in GATS.

Stakeholder views
There is recognition of the importance of the sector as an input to business rather than as a
potential for exports. In particular energy distribution is a priority sector at SADC level, with
a protocol on it.

Complementarities with previous studies

No study is currently available, so there would be a possibility for a case study to present
possible domestic regulatory and international negotiating options.

5) Educational services

Current capacity to trade

Trade in education services relate to tertiary / higher education services. Botswana is a net
importer of such services (via mode 2), with an estimate import value of around P 1bn in
government expenditure, which increases if one adds the private component of this spending

95
 (e.g. private firms sponsored scholarship, family support). This is because the Botswana
government supports students abroad. The data are mainly recorded as the BoP category
travel related imports.

Estimates for exports are around P 21.5m in 2004 including living expenses of students (see
Table 17). This value represents the bulk of Botswana’s exports in educational services and it
is slightly declining from 2003, essentially due to a downward trend in students’ enrolment,
which began in 2002. Such trend is partially offset by increasing fees and costs of living

Table 17: Estimates of total tuition and fees paid to the University of Botswana by
foreign students (Pula)
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Tuition 5,650,800 8,079,000 7,671,400 11,050,100 12,258,600 12,241,550
Other Fees 329,378 367,008 468,285 563,677 600,860 593,460
Living Expenses 4,838,044 5,840,116 5,959,221 8,621,835 9,241,060 8,706,550
TOTAL 10,818,222 14,286,124 14,098,906 20,235,612 22,100,520 21,541,560
Foreign Students
(number and % 854 922 801 1,037 997 885
in total) (8.4%) (7.9%) (6.4%) (7.8%) (6.4%) (5.7%)

Importance in GDP and development

The direct weight of the tertiary education in GDP is likely to be relatively low as education
is typically a non commercial service in Botswana. Employment in the sector may be
recorded as part of Non-Profit Institutions serving households, whose share in total GDP is
only 2.3% in 2004/05. The fairly widespread basic education is likely to keep pressure on the
demand for tertiary education Botswana.

The indirect effects are more important as tertiary education helps to create the skills
adequate to the economy’s needs, which are still lacking in many sectors of the economy, as
noted above. In this way, the tertiary education will have a major impact on growth and
poverty reduction. The contribution of the sector to total employment (private and parastatal)
is limited (2.5% in 2005), albeit increasing.

Possible importance of policy measures

Two policy questions are particularly important to address with respect to trade in education
services: what issues are important to consider in assessing the extent to which Botswana
needs to reduce its reliance on imports of education services? And, what measures may
Botswana put in place to increase its exports? Policy measures at all levels (related to
external regulation, domestic regulation and supply capacity) are likely to affect both a
strengthening domestic tertiary education and the promotion of export of education services.

External:
- need to assess the potential for developing a hub for educational services
- need to assess the extent to which the recognition of domestic credentials is granted
abroad
- need to assess the possible effects of GATS commitments (mode 3) in the education
sector.

Regulatory:

96
- need to evaluate potential impact of opening up the sector to public and private suppliers.

Supply capacity:
- assessment of the opportunity for an import substitution strategy, considering both the
high level of public spending and the potential positive externalities stemming from
education imports via mode 2
- potential importance of improving the skills available for the sector (e.g. lecturers,
managers).

Stakeholder views
There is a widespread acknowledgement of the potential for the development of an
educational hub in Botswana, which would also reduce the large (public) import of
educational services. Moreover policy makers in Botswana have long been convinced of the
importance of higher education as a backbone of the economy. The country has one of the
highest shares of education expenditure in GDP of all developing countries, though much of
this is spent on overseas education. Moreover, the government has recently began the
planning of a second university in Palapye specialised in science and technology.

Complementarities with previous studies

One draft study is available on trade in educational services, thus a supplementary analysis
may address all possible constraints. There seem some obvious question marks about why
Botswana imports such a high level education services; on the contrary, given Botswana’s
relative geographical and governance advantage in the region and its relative development in
specific sectors (e.g. health, mining, financial services), certain education services may
actually become an area of comparative advantage.

Possible role models in other developing countries

Some developing countries, such as South Africa and Brazil, have become regional hubs for
tertiary education services. Other countries have attracted and developed specialised
education institutes, such as the Caribbean islands with offshore medical schools and the
Philippines with nursing schools.

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6) Environmental services

Current capacity to trade

There are no data available on trade in environmental services, but export does not appear to
be developed in a major way. Most environmental work is public and it is carried out mainly
by local small and medium sized enterprises, which do not have sufficient comparative
advantage to penetrate foreign markets. Some imports (mainly via mode 3 and 4) come from
South Africa, whose companies control a sizeable part of Botswana’s market.

Importance in GDP and development

It is a small sector in the economy, which is not recorded separately in the domestic data. The
main contribution of the sector appears to be indirect, especially for the potential effects on
tourism as part of the wildlife and environmental conservation of tourist sites.

The environmental services sector appears to generate little direct or indirect employment.
The few main firms (e.g. Wave Sanitation, Skip Hire) directly employ around 20-30 workers,
and may generate indirect employment (often via collaboration in rural areas) of similar
magnitude. The poverty reduction effects of such employment may be felt by some rural
poor, especially as far as waste management and sanitation projects in rural areas are
concerned.

Importance of policy measures

The development of the sector crucially depends on the stimulus given by public regulation
in imposing environmentally friendly standards to economic and social activities.

External:
- need to tackle external constraints in accessing heavily protected markets (especially
South Africa);
- potential for helping Botswana firms overcoming high transaction costs in neighbouring
markets (e.g. difficulty in getting appointments with the government).

Regulatory:
- Need for carefully designed public procurement projects to foster orientation quality in
the sector.

Supply Capacity:
- Lack of access to cheap finance (which is now available at 15%) especially to expand in
foreign markets, where more complex equipment and larger investment (because of higher
transaction costs) may be needed;
- need to tackle the lack of specific engineering skills (e.g. process, mechanical)

Stakeholder views
There is little export potential. Some opportunities may arise in neighbouring countries in the
process of recovery (e.g. Angola, DRC), but local and South African competition make those
opportunities very difficult to exploit. Also, cross-border management of environmental
resources is an area of potential interest.

Complementarities with previous studies

There is no formal study available on the sector in Botswana. One opinion piece dealing with
supply capacity and regulatory constraints in environmental services provision is available

98
(Matalaote 2005) and could be complemented through a more formal analysis of the sector
(including negotiating options).

7) Financial services

Current capacity to trade

Financial services are the largest service sector in value of export revenues after travel related
and transport. Exports occur in two main categories: insurance services and traditional
banking services. The former category is the largest one in terms of trade (P173 mn of
exports vs. P135 mm of imports in 2005). Mode 3 trade also occurs as in general there are
restrictions on trade in insurance products without registering subsidiaries in the country of
the customer. Both exports and imports have been growing substantially over the past years,
indicating a huge potential in this sector. Unfortunately we do not have enough data to
clearly identify the determinants of this trade surplus; however consultations seem to suggest
that life insurance services form an important part of Botswana’s exports (e.g. BIFM is
particularly active in this market, with subsidiaries in various countries including Kenya and
Tanzania).

The capacity in trade in banking and other financial services is significantly less with P 23m
of exports and P 15m of imports in 2005. The potential for trade in this category seems to be
significantly under-exploited, given the presence of the IFSC, a fairly deep capital market,
stimulated also by large institutional savings related to the recent development of a pension
fund industry, and the presence of a stock exchange. The year 2005 was the first year in
which Botswana experienced a trade surplus in this category.

Importance in GDP and development

The sector bears an important and increasing direct relevance to GDP (4.5% in 2004/05 vs.
an average of 4% in 1995/97 according to Bank of Botswana data).

The indirect relevance of the sector is likely to be also very significant by regulating and
providing access to capital and by providing insurance services for businesses and
households. In particular, the high interest rate is considered to be a severe constraint to the
growth of several businesses, especially small and micro enterprises. Moreover access to
capital is a binding constraint for a significant part of the household as well.

In terms of contribution to employment, the financial services sector is recorded together

with business services in CSO data, totalling 6.7% in 2003. If we assume the same proportion
of contribution in employment as that in GDP between the two sectors, the contribution in
employment is around 4% in 2005. Most of such employment is likely to be skilled, therefore
the direct contribution to poverty reduction may be limited.

Possible importance of policy measures

The financial sector is already a fairly liberal and open sector with no foreign exchange
controls and investment grade ratings. However various challenges are still present at
external, regulatory and supply capacity level, many of which have been discussed in other
studies and national debates. These include:

99
External:
- need to assessing the role and comparative advantage of Botswana in the region to
develop a financial services centre (including the role of IFSC);
- need to understand the potential impact of complying with the requests from other WTO
members on financial services (and concomitantly assessing possible options for negotiating
position at the WTO level);
- need to assess the role of integration at the regional level as opposed to the multilateral
level (e.g. harmonising transport insurance products at SADC level may be more relevant
than at the multilateral level);
- need for strengthening the network of double taxation agreements between Botswana and
other countries, in order to avoid foreign companies based in Botswana taxation in the
country of the mother company as well.

Regulatory:
- Consultations addressed complex domestic regulatory issues in banking, insurance and
other financial services to be examined in more detail;
- need to address the rigid work permits’ regulation, which seems to constrain the ability of
firms to fill gaps in domestic skills (financial services appear to be one of the sectors where
such shortage is most severe).

Supply capacity:
- Need to address the shortage of skilled labour available for sectoral needs, e.g. by linking
formal training to professional experience and by creating education programmes tailored to
the specific needs of the sector;
- need to assess the extent to which deep capital markets and relatively high availability of
funds may be channelled to support operations abroad.

Stakeholder views
In general Botswana is perceived to have a potential comparative advantage in the financial
sector (due to exchange control liberalisation, fiscal advantage, relatively skilled labour
force, strong rule of law and governance), which needs to be further exploited, but which also
needs to be narrowed down. Financial services has become one of the priority sectors for the
country’s development prospects, as evident in the government’s 2016 vision and in the
establishment of the IFSC to harness the country’s potential to become a regional hub for
financial services.

The IFSC is active in creating a number of potential export opportunities:

- making Botswana a hub in international insurance activities exploiting the 2005
international insurance act, which allows a whole series of insurance intermediation
activity to take place in Botswana serving the whole African market (e.g. reinsurance,
captive insurance)
- exploiting the localisation of the Pan-African Commodities Exchange in Botswana,
which would become a hub to enable a number of subsidiaries across the continent
(should be operational in 3-5 years, generating around 200 jobs)
- based on the large capital base of the country, developing financial investment related
opportunities abroad (e.g. BIFM and IFC are currently discussing to create a property
investment fund, which would invest in African real estate opportunities, exploiting local
expertise in mall development financing).

100
- broadening the regulatory framework in the banking sector to exploit niche opportunities
for Botswana (e.g. related to the newly created diamonds trade centre).

Complementarities with previous studies

Not surprisingly, given the importance of the sector in government’s policies, it is the sector
with the largest amount of studies available among all services sectors (Gabaraane, 2003;
Bester et al., 2004; Soylemezoglu, 2005; Boshwaen, 2005). However the next phase of this
study would be an opportunity to integrate the large amount of information available
(covering domestic regulatory and supply capacity issues) with options for a negotiating
position (including an evaluation of the coherence between domestic regulation and the
position in international negotiations).

Possible role models in other developing countries

Caribbean islands and Mauritius are amongst important players from the developing world
with significant success in attracting export oriented activities in financial services. The
experience for other, more similar countries that have already introduced GATS
commitments may be helpful for assessing Botswana’s possible commitments to GATS.

8) Health and social services

Current capacity to trade

Trade in health is mainly recorded as travel related activities and in remittance flows, as trade
in Botswana tends to be dominated by mode 2 and 4. Given the paucity of data available, we
are not able to estimate the size of health related exports and imports; nevertheless trade via
mode 4 for health personnel appears to be the dominant form of exports and imports,
especially as far as nurses are concerned. The consultations seem to suggest that imports are
higher than exports in this mode (e.g. Zambian nurses would often go to Botswana first and
then to the UK). There appears to be some evidence of imports of health services via mode 2
as well (from South Africa) and some via mode 3 through a foreign owned hospital in
Botswana (Gaborone Private Hospital, owned by the South African group Afrex).

Importance in GDP and development

The direct impact of the health sector on GDP (through sector value added) is likely to be
relatively significant, although its contribution is limited by the fact that it is not recorded at
market prices as it is mainly publicly provided. The contribution in GDP is recorded under
Social and personal services, which amount to 3.4% in 2004/05. Health expenditure by the
government in the last years has risen quite substantially due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The indirect impact on the economy is probably much more important as labour efficiency
crucially depends on health conditions. Several studies suggest the incidence of HIV/AIDS
will slow down the economy considerably. The contribution to total employment is likely to
be large (included mainly in public sector employment), despite the relatively low
nurse/patient and doctor/patient ratios.

Possible importance of policy measures

Several policy measures may be relevant for assessing trade in health services:

- need to evaluate the potential impact for opening the sector to private competition (which
is currently restrained);
- need for an understanding of constraints in other countries to exports of services;

101
- need to tackle the shortage of specialised skills (especially nurses) via various policy
measures.

Stakeholder views
The health services sector is perceived mainly as a public service for the population, with
relatively little interest for developing it commercially. However, the country’s expertise in
the HIV/AIDS area may potentially provide a comparative advantage for eventual export
activities (especially via mode 3 and mode 4), as would the potential for nurses.

Complementarities with previous studies

A BIDPA study is currently examining trade in health services (mainly via movement of
nurses), and this could cover the main issues on the topic. Capacity constraints (skills) could
also be addressed under trade in education services.

Possible role models in other developing countries

South Africa is an important competitor at the international level, which has developed mode
2 exports (with health tourists representing an increasing share of tourists to South Africa)
mode 3 (with investments in the USA, UK and also Botswana) and mode 4 (nurses to UK,
doctors on short term contracts with UK Hospitals to reduce waiting lists for cateract
operations etc.). India, Thailand and the Caribbean have also developed successfully this line
of export. India is also providing health services via mode 1 (e.g. X-ray reading services).
The Philippines is an important example of nursing services export via mode 4.

9) Travel related services

Current capacity to trade

The tourism sector has currently the largest current export capacity in services, and is the
second foreign exchange earner (after mining). Tourism services are exported via mode 2
with tourists coming mainly from Southern Africa and from overseas. The different origins
of tourists tend to mirror different patterns of tourism: overseas tourists usually consume high
value services mainly concentrated in the Okavango Delta area (in line the “high value low
volume” tourism strategy implemented by some of the domestic tourist industry); African
tourists opt mainly for low-middle value type of holidays (e.g. self-driving, camping). Table
18 shows that the majority of tourists are African, with 50-60,000 overseas tourists. While
the data records Zimbabweans and Zambians as tourists, most of these arrivals seem to be
related to migration rather than tourism (as it is confirmed by the rapid growth of
Zimbabwean “tourists” in a period of deep recession for the country). Once we filter out
these arrivals, the data shows a declining pattern between 2000 and 2003, which appears to
be due to more to a global crisis induced by negative shocks (e.g. 9/11, SARS, Iraq war)
rather than to a idiosyncratic decline of Botswana’s ability to attract tourists. In fact
according to the operators interviewed there has been a quick recovery of tourism in the last
few years, which would suggest that the negative effect of the external shocks is fading
away. Notwithstanding the decline in absolute numbers of tourists, the average expenditure
has increased to an extent that total expenditure has risen, driving up the receipts from
tourism close to P 3 mn in 2003 (USD 470 mn).

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Table: Tourist arrivals in Botswana and tourist expenditure
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
South Africa 393,528 507,610 478,044 407,247 354,984
Zimbabwe 245,630 311,452 319,174 401,424 435,940
Zambia 28,888 40,343 36,681 44,644 34,636
Namibia 39,952 40,429 36,681 34,814 29,415
USA 9,871 23,967 21,971 15,238 10,656
UK 15,519 22,868 19,283 18,077 14,445
Germany 8,209 13,317 8,875 8,640 6,584
Netherlands 4,460 7,038 6,030 5,161 4,181
Australia 5,577 8,217 5,756 5,488 4,118
France 3,219 4,562 4,358 3,679 2,730
Other countries 88,461 123,993 111,992 92,146 77,776
Total 843,314 1,103,796 1,048,845 1,036,558 975,465
Total without Zbw and Zmb 568,796 752,001 692,990 590,490 504,889
Major overseas countries 46,855 79,969 66,273 56,283 42,714
Expenditure (USD million) 234 313 300 309 356
Source: Department of Tourism

Imports of tourism services are much less important than exports and are related mainly to
current imports of educational services.

Importance in GDP and development

Tourism is a very important sector for Botswana’s economy. An economic impact study by
the Botswana Tourism Department in 1998 revealed that Tourism contributed between 3.2%
and 4.5% to the GDP in 1997, depending on the method used for the calculation (i.e.
expenditure or output approach). Since tourist expenditures have increased at higher rates
than the overall economic growth rate during the past eight years, it is estimated that the
sector’s contribution to GDP has grown to more than 4.5%.

The indirect relevance of tourism in GDP can also be significant – it is related to the (limited)
influence that a well developed tourism capacity may exert on the attractiveness of the
country to FDI, but also depends on the ability of the tourism industry to create linkages with
the agricultural sector and other services sectors.

The economic impact study assumed that tourism’s share of total employment was the same
as its share of GDP (estimated at about 4.5 percent), and that the total number of jobs
generated by the re-defined tourism sector would be expected to be around 9,900 persons in
1997 (Leechor, 2004).

Possible importance of policy measures

The main constraints in this sector are already subject to an intense debate at the national
level and appear to be related to domestic regulation and supply capacity. A number of issues
to be addressed at the policy level have been identified, including external, regulatory and
supply capacity constraints. However, given its important in the economy, and the fact that
Botswana has already committed parts of the sector to GATS, the tourism sector would be an
ideal case study to show technical issues as well as effects from making GATS
commitments.

External:

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- difficult access for most local operators to foreign markets, especially overseas, which
implies that most sales of tourism packages occur via several intermediaries, including tour
operators and wholesalers overseas and in South Africa (which acts as sales hub for the
Southern African region);
- need to assess the effects of current GATS commitments;
- need to examine the challenges in the allocation of work permits to foreign employees,
which makes it difficult to employ qualified skills and thus creates rigidities in the labour
market (e.g. no incentive to fire inefficient managers).

Regulatory:
- need to understand the appropriateness of the lease for land concession contracts, which
is currently 15 years for the most important sites: on the one hand a short period may reduce
the incentive to invest on the site somewhat (due to the lack of security of the investment), on
the other hand, it stimulates competition between operators for the land and pushes prices of
lease up with benefits for the government.

Supply capacity:
- lack of adequate domestic human resources to fulfil the sectoral needs, especially as far
as managerial roles (e.g. lodge managers) and some specialised skills (e.g. accountants, sales
and reservation specialists) are concerned. Such problem point to a closer cooperation
between training institutions and firms in the industry;
- secondary tourist sites (e.g. the Central Kalahari, the Western Delta, the Pans and the
Kgalagadi) appear to be under-exploited due to lack of supply capacity and marketing
investment;

Alongside these bottlenecks, there appear to be unexploited opportunities which may be

fostered through adequate policies, e.g. there may be the potential for expanding the share of
the industry’s value chain localized in Botswana for example via the localisation of the
marketing and reservation functions, which are currently carried out from South Africa.

Stakeholder views
The tourism sector is already recognised as one of the pillars of Botswana’s economy and is
considered to have an ample growth potential. Indeed the relevance of tourism has already
been acknowledged by both private and public sectors, with initiatives such as the
establishment of the Hotel and Tourism Association (HATAB) and the public sector Tourism
Board. Because the trading potential is already recognosed, it would be an excellent way to
exemplify the main (technical) issues related to negotiations on trade in services.

Complementarities with previous studies

Leechor (2004) is the main study on tourism available and focuses on supply capacity and to
a lesser extent on domestic regulatory issues. It identifies most of the constraints which
emerged during our consultations. There is significant scope to complement the current
available information with an analysis of possible negotiating options (including an
evaluation of the existing commitments in tourism), effects of past commitments and
domestic policy choices left unaddressed (e.g. skills supply, lease contracts).

Presence of role models in other developing countries

Tourism is one of the services sectors which has been more successfully exploited by a
number of developing countries, where it has become one of the main export sectors,
including various Caribbean countries, Mauritius, Tanzania, Kenya.

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10) Recreational, cultural and sporting services

Current capacity to trade

There are no data readily available on this sector. It is likely to be small and confined to some
recreational activity (e.g. live music and theatre events, sporting events) traded via mode 2
and 4. There may also be some minor trade in cultural services linked to tourism. In fact, a
data collection exercise may lead to a better appreciation of the sector.

Importance in GDP and development

The sector has a small direct and indirect impact on the economy, although indirect effects
may be somewhat relevant in fostering (cultural) tourism. The current impact on employment
is likely to be negligible, with very few employed professionally.

Possible importance of policy measures

Policies to promote cultural exchanges may be potentially helpful in developing trade in this
sector. The development of an enabling, national cultural foundation may also be important.

Stakeholder views
It is not regarded as a priority sector at this stage, although there may be some potential to
exploit cultural and music industry related to tourism.

Complementarities with previous studies

No study is currently available, so there is plenty of potential for integrating the available
information and collecting more primary data.

Possible role models in other developing countries

Possible role models include South Africa as sports event organizer, and the Caribbean with
their well-known festivals and carnivals.

11) Transport services

Current capacity to trade

Transport services constitute the second largest traded services sector after tourism. Due to
its landlocked position, Botswana is a net importer of transport services with imports of P1.5
bn in 2003 and P420 mn of exports. Most trade is likely to occur via mode 1. Although
UNCTAD’s Bop data does not include information on specific transportation modes, it is
possible that imports for Botswana include maritime and road transport services for goods
(given the country’s structure of trade in goods). Transport exports are mainly related to
tourism and transport of passengers and goods in transit via Botswana.

Importance in GDP and development

The direct importance of transport services is limited (1.1% of GDP in 2005) However, the
real direct contribution of the sector is likely to be higher, as road transport is heavily
subsidised by the government. The indirect impact is crucial for the competitiveness of a
landlocked country like Botswana both for trade in goods (through road and maritime
transport) and in other services (especially through air transport). In particular an efficient air
transport system is fundamental for the development of tourism, but also of other services
exports, intensive in movement of people (e.g. financial, business services, education).

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The sector has experienced a limited and stable contribution in employment. The total share
in employment of the transport and communication sector was 3.6% in 2003, out of which
around half may be from the transport sector.

Possible importance of policy measures

Policy measures at all levels are potentially keyto develop an efficient transport sector which
serves the economy.

External:
- Need for evaluating the role of regional cooperation (including harmonization and
simplification of border operations and development of infrastructure network);
- need to coordinate efforts at the regional level if Botswana were to develop an air cargo
hub.

Regulatory:
- Need to assess the potential impact of the current liberalization of air transport regulation
(both BASA and domestic regulation);
- need to evaluate the potential impact of Air Botswana’s privatisation on the air transport
industry.

Supply capacity:
- Need to address the potential for skills shortages (e.g. bus drivers).

Stakeholder views
Transport is considered as an essential component of the development strategy at the SADC
level, and Botswana, given its central position in the region, is supportive of the idea of
strengthening the transportation network. The government’s view would be to develop a road
transport services as efficiently as possible to serve the economy, and to make Gaborone a
regional air cargo transport hub, to increase exports. The idea of an air cargo hub is
potentially attractive, as Johannesburg airport (the current air cargo hub for SADC) is
operating at over-capacity and Gaborone is relatively well connected to other neighbouring
countries.

Developing exports in passengers transport may also be a viable option for Botswana given
the high quality of capital equipment in the sector relative to most other SADC countries.

Complementarities with previous studies

There is no formal study currently available on the transport services sector. Therefore there
is the possibility of developing a complete case study to inform both negotiating options and
domestic regulation. However, some aspects of the sector, such as air traffic rights, are
normally not included under trade in services negotiations.

Possible role models in other developing countries

Other African countries have developed important air cargo hubs, such as Kenya and South
Africa. Mauritius is currently assessing the speed at which is should liberalise air traffic
rights.

12) Other services sectors

There was not much information on this remaining service sectors.

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 Appendix 3 SADC protocols
Goals and objectives of the SADC protocols on infrastructure and services

Communication

Communications provides the infrastructure that facilitates information transfer. It comprises

telecommunications, as the electronic means of information processing, transfer and delivery;
and postal services, as the facility for accepting, transport and delivery of physical
information packages. The dynamic pace of digital electronic technology has managed to
accelerate the ability to transfer large volumes of software broadband transactional and
broadcast information. Thus technology has converged the dissemination of information and
techniques of communications resulting in one information, communications and technology
(ICT) network.
It is, however, very enlightening to appreciate the distinction between the backbone
infrastructure provisioning and information technology applications in order to realise the
complementarities of ICT (infrastructure) and ICT’s (IT applications).
For the purpose of this site, the primary focus has been on development of the regulatory
(policy) environment and networks (infrastructure), nationally and regionally. Expansion of
the communications infrastructure, especially telecommunications, is very capital intensive.
Therefore, it has become imperative that private sector participation is encouraged to enable
governments to concentrate on the social prerogatives of food security, health, education, etc.
The SADC mandate is primarily coordinative and facilitative in its efforts towards an
integrated and information-based regional economy

Meteorology

Mission
SADC shall strive to create a conducive environment for information sharing to alleviate the
impact of weather-related natural disasters
The Directorate shall strive to help member States to provide multi-sector specific weather
and climate products derived through national and regional capability in weather information
analysis and prediction.
SADC shall assist the National Meteorological Services (NMS) to adopt cost-recovery
strategies that will enhance cost-containment to achieve significant operational self-
sustenance and development.
To help transform the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) into a SADC Climate Monitoring
and Prediction Centre (CMPC).
To develop the Meteorological Association Southern Africa (MASA) into a recognised
operating agency of SADC.

Goals
Continual update and upgrade of satellite receiving station and information data processing,
analysis equipment and prediction methods (measure: enhanced sector specific weather data)
Pre-emptive human resource planning and technical development (measure: improved
quality of products)
Establish MASA as a recognised SADC operating agency to improve climate information
sharing.

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Transport
The objective of SADC in the area of transport is to establish transport systems which
provide efficient, cost-effective and fully integrated infrastructure and operations in support
of regional economic development, integration and poverty eradication.

SADC Regional Transport System

The region’s transport systems, particularly the railways, were initially constructed to radiate
from the coastal ports to provide the colonial powers with access to and control over the
inland areas. As urban and industrial centres began to develop, such as Gauteng, the
Highveld of Zimbabwe and the Copper Belt in Zambia, the focus switched to inland
transport. However, from a regional perspective, port-based routes or corridors continue to be
important for the landlocked countries, particularly in international trade. The regional
transport system offers most of the landlocked countries a choice of routes to the sea via
road, rail and port systems of adequate capacity. Recent and ongoing investments potentially
extend the range of choice.
There has also been considerable interest in the transport corridors in a wider development
perspective, with ports and their connecting road and rail systems developed in conjunction
with investment in industry, mining, agriculture and tourism. The most successful of these
initiatives is the Maputo Development Corridor. The concept has been introduced to the other
corridors linking regional ports with their hinterlands, and is being rolled out all over the
region.

Energy

Goal
To ensure the availability of a sufficient, integrated, efficient and cost effective infrastructure
system that will support and sustain regional economic development, trade and investment
for poverty alleviation.

Objectives
Strive to harmonise national and regional energy policies, strategies and programmes on
matters of common interest based on equity, balance and mutual benefit.
Co-operate in the development of energy and energy pooling to ensure security and
reliability of energy supply and the minimisation of costs.
Co-operate in the development and utilisation of energy in the Region in the following sub-
sectors: coal, new, and renewable energy sources, energy efficiency an conservation, and
other cross-cutting themes of interest to member states.
Strive to ensure the provision of reliable, continued and sustainable energy services in the
most efficient and cost effective manner.
Promote joint development of human resources and organisational capacity building in the
energy sector.
Co-operate in the research, development, adaptation, dissemination and transfer of low-cost
energy technologies.
Strive to achieve standardisation in appropriate energy development and application
including the use of common methods and other techniques.

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Tourism

Goal
To use tourism as a vehicle for achieving sustainable socio-economic development, poverty
alleviation and as a key incentive for the conservation and utilization of the region’s natural
resources

Objectives
To use Tourism as a vehicle as a vehicle to achieve sustainable social and economic
development through the full realization of the potential of the Region;
To ensure equity and balance and complementarity in the regional tourism industry;
To increase the participation of small and micro-enterprises, local communities, youth and
women in the development of tourism throughout the Region;
To contribute towards human resource development of the Region through job creation and
the development of skills at all levels in the tourism industries;
To create a favourable investment climate for tourism within the Region for both the public
and private sectors, including small and medium scale tourist establishments;
To improve the quality and competitiveness and standards of service of the tourism industry
in the Region;
To improve the standards of safety and security for tourists in the territories of Member
States and to make appropriate provision for disabled, handicapped senior citizens in their
respective countries;
To develop and market the region as a single but multifaceted tourism destination
To facilitate intra-regional travel for the development of tourism through easing or removal
of travel and visa restrictions and harmonization of immigration procedures; and
To improve tourism service and infrastructure in order to foster a vibrant tourism industry.

Water

The SADC Water Division objective is to ensure water in Southern Africa becomes a
sustainable resource through the coordinated management, protection, and equitable use of
its shared watercourses. In doing so, it advances SADC’s goal of peace and prosperity
through regional integration.

Water is key, but limited resource in a region of vast economic, social, political and climatic
diversity. Unpredictable availability, deteriorating quality, uneven distribution and competing
demands, are a formula for international conflict and political instability. SADC has turned
this threat into an opportunity for closer regional cooperation and harmonization through,
among others, the adoption of an integrated water strategy.

The SADC Water Division has been tasked with creating the enabling environment for the
integrated management of shared watercourses on a regional rather than national level. The
two pillars supporting this integrated approach are the Protocol on Shared Watercourses and
the Regional Strategic Action Plan.

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 Appendix 4 Timeline of study
The breakdown of deadlines for activities is as follows:

Activity Deadline
Commencement of the project
24th July 2006

Inception report phase

24th July – 31st August 2006

• Drafting of the inception report 14th August 2006

• Submission of the draft inception report 14th August 2006

• Presentation of the inception report and tbc but falling in period 14th -28 August 2006
undertaking of consultation exercise
31st August 2006

• Submission of final inception report (This

will include a discussion of consultations 7th September 2006
in Botswana, and a scoring of sectors to be
included according to a number of criteria)
• Submission of draft (final) report, (includes
an analysis of the three constraints faced in 5 October 2006
the sectors prioritized in the inception
phase report)

• Seminar to discuss the results in the first

draft report and undertaking of further 11 October
consultation exercise

Drafting of the final report February 2007

Presentation of the final report at a workshop aimed

at key services sectors February 2007
Submission of the final report
March 2007

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 Appendix 5 People consulted
We are grateful to John Hinchliffe, Kgomotso Autlwetse, Nick Charalambides and Tebogo
Seleka for facilitating the study, in particular for organising the consultations and seminars.
Table A1: People consulted by services sector
ORGANISATION SECTOR CONTACT PERSON DESIGNATION
Architects Collaborative Business Services Tshoganetso T. Rantshilo Managing Director
Bank Of Botswana Quantitative data Geoffrey Shima Ncube Senior Economist
Bank Of Botswana Quantitative data Pontsho M. Mochipisi Senior Economist
Barclays Bank Financial Services Dominique Bruynseels Head of Barclays Africa
BEDIA Cross-sector Reginald Selelo Research Officer
BIA Business Services Tirtha Sen Executive Officer
BIDPA Cross-sector Margaret Sengwaketse Research Fellow
BIDPA Cross-sector Victoria Ndzinge-Anderson Associate Researcher
BIDPA Cross-sector Johnson Tsoro Maiketso Research Fellow
BIDPA Cross-sector Joel Sentsho Senior Research Fellow
BJ Builders Construction Neil Withey Contracts Director
BOCCIM Cross-sector Norman Moleele Deputy Executive Director
Botswana Guides Association Tourism Kenson Kgaga Director
Department of Tourism Tourism Thabologo Ndzinge Director
Desert and Delta Safari Tourism Derek Flatt General Manager
Econsult Financial/Education Keith Jefferis Managing Director
Exporters Association of
Botswana Cross-sector Loago Raditedu Executive Director
Freight Forwarding Association Transport James Molokomme President
HATAB Tourism Morongoe Ntloedibe-Disele Chief Executive Officer
Horizon Ogilvy & Mather Business Services Mathata Gasennelwe Managing Director
IFSC Financial Services Alan Boshwaen Chief Executive Officer
IFSC Financial Services Kitso Lemo Strategy & Research Executive
Kerr & Downey Tourism Diana Wright General Manager
John Hinchliffe Consultants Business Services John Hinchliffe Managing Director
Mascom Communications Odirile Motlhale Communications & PR Manager
Maun Lodge Tourism Yasmin Potts General Manager
Ministry of Comms. Science &
Tech. Communications Alicia Ramaribana Deputy Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Finance & Dev.
Planning Financial Services Elaina Gonsalves Director, Insurance & Pension
Ministry of Finance & Dev. Secretary for financial affairs and
Planning Cross-sector Wilfred Mandlebe Chairman of the Committee
Ministry of Trade & Industry Cross-sector N.M. Masisi Deputy Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Trade & Industry Cross-sector Gemma Masonya
Ministry of Works & Transport Transport Gerald Nyadze Thipe Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Works & Transport Transport Dr C. Gopalakrishnan Transport Economist

Nurses' Association of Botswana Health Joyce Tamocha President

Okavango Wilderness Safaris Tourism Mark Havercroft Group operation manager
SAMDEF Communications Irene Tshukudu Investment Officer
SAMDEF Communications Charles Mundale Chief Executive Officer
Seabelo's Express Transport Evans Twaambo General Manager
Standard Chartered Financial Services Nigel Jones Chief Executive
South African Express Airways Transport Robert Mpabanga Country Manager - Botswana
University of Botswana Education Dr. Tscheko Associate Professor (Economics)
WAVE Sanitation Services EnvServices Seteng Motalaote Executive Chairman
Young Architects Construction Edward Mazhani Architect Principal
Young Architects Construction David Young General Manager

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 Appendix 6 Further studies
The list below is a non-exhaustive study of sectoral services studies:

Communications

- Monnane M. (2003), Botswana Telecommunications Services, SATRN Working

Paper No. 3.

Construction

- Kaboyakgosi G. and M. Sengwaketse (2003), “Construction and Related Services”,

SATRN Working Paper no. 4

Environmental Services

- Motalaote S. (2005), “Exporting environmental services: a seller’s perspectives”,

prepared for the ITC Executive Forum on national Export Strategies.

Financial Services

- Gabaraane M. (2003), Botswana Financial Services, SATRN Working Paper No. 2.

- Bester H. et al. (2004), “Making insurance markets work for the poor in Botswana,
Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland – scoping study”, final report.
- Boshwaen A.P. (2005), Botswana International Financial Services Centre – Progress
Review and Initiative to Enter the Cross-Border Market for Business Process
Outsourcing in Financial Services, prepared for the ITC Executive Forum on national
Export Strategies.

Tourism

- Leechor C. (2004), Developing Tourism In Botswana : Progress and Challenges,

BIDPA.

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 Appendix 7 The GATS: an introduction

At the multilateral level, the GATS governs measures affecting trade in services (Article I)
and serves as a basis for WTO members to progressively liberalise their services trade. The
GATS regulates all trade in services, covers all modes of supply and applies to all types of
domestic regulation at all levels of government (central, regional and local).

Part I of the GATS describes the scope of the agreement. It does not define services (it lists
161 service activities across 12 classified sectors – see Table D1) but focuses on supply
aspects, which includes production, distribution, marketing, sales and delivery. GATS
excludes services which are supplied in the ‘exercise of governmental authority’ and the
greater part of the air transport sector.

Table: Classified sectors under the GATS

1) Business 7) Financial
2) Communications 8) Health
3) Construction 9) Tourism
4) Distribution 10) Recreational
5) Education 11) Transport
6) Environmental 12) Other

Disciplines

The GATS distinguishes between general obligations (in Part II) which are those measures
which a country agrees to apply to all its services sectors and sector-specific commitments
(in Part III) which apply only on specified sectors, as offered by each WTO member.

Table: Main provisions of the GATS

Obligation Article Subject Matter

General I Definition. Trade in services covers four modes of supply.
General II Most-favoured-nation (MFN) obligation. Option to invoke exemptions on a
one-time basis.
General III Notification and publication. Obligation to create an enquiry point.
General IV Increasing participation of developing countries. High-income countries to
take measures to facilitate trade of developing countries.
General V Economic integration. Sets conditions for free trade and similar agreements.
Sector- VI Allows for domestic regulation. Requirements concerning the design and
specific implementation of services sector regulation including qualification
requirements.
Sector- VII Recognition and qualifications, standards and certification of suppliers.
specific
Sector- VIII Monopolies and exclusive suppliers. Requires that such entities abide by
specific MFN and specific commitments (Arts. XVI and XVII) and do not abuse their
dominant position.
Sector- IX Business practices. Recognition that business practices may restrict trade.
specific Calls for consultation between members on request.
Sector- XIV General exceptions. Allows measures to achieve non-economic objectives.
specific
Sector- XVI Market access. Defines a set of policies that may not be used to restrict
specific market access for a scheduled sector unless they are listed in a member’s

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 schedule.
Sector- XVII National treatment. Applies in a sector if a commitment to that effect is made
specific and if no limitations or exceptions are listed in amember’s schedule.
Sector- XVIII Allows members to make additional commitments e.g. regarding
specific qualifications, standards and licenses.
Sector- XIX Calls for successive negotiations to expand coverage of specific
specific commitments (Arts. XVI and XVII).
Sector- XXIX States that annexes are an integral part of the GATS.
specific

Source: WTO

General obligations

For all sectors, the most-favoured-nation (MFN) principle (Article II) obliges non-
discrimination between foreign services and services providers. The GATS allows for
exceptions to the MFN principle by virtue of two provisions:

1) When the GATS first came into force in 1995, members were allowed a single
opportunity to list exemptions from the MFN principle. These were intended
to be permanent exclusions, but are subject to negotiation in the current round.
These were often used to specify regional arrangements which would not meet
the Article V rules (see below).

2) Regional trade agreements (RTAs) affecting services trade can be notified

under Article V of the GATS.

In order to be compatible with provisions under Article V of the GATS an RTA must have
‘substantial’ sectoral coverage in terms of services sectors, volume of services trade and
modes of supply (Article V:1a) and it has to provide for national treatment among services
providers in the members party to the RTA eliminating ‘substantially’ all discrimination
(Article V:1b). These conditions should be met after a ‘reasonable’ time frame. Unlike RTAs
for goods, Article V:3 of the GATS provides ‘flexibility’ in the requirements for substantial
coverage and non-discrimination where developing countries are parties to an agreement. In
the context of reciprocal Economic Partnership Agreements, for example, this would allow
the EU to liberalise more sectors and modes of supply to ACP countries than that provided
by the ACP countries in return.

Article III of the GATS contains general obligations on transparency. Members are obliged
to publish all domestic regulatory measures affecting services trade and establish enquiry
points to provide specific information.

Finally, all WTO members must participate in rounds of GATS negotiations with the aim of
achieving higher levels of services trade liberalisation (Article XIX). There are also
provisions for further negotiations on developing GATS rules relating to emergency
safeguard measures (Article X), government procurement (Article XIII) and subsidies
(Article XV).
Sector-specific commitments

All other GATS commitments apply to the extent that each member has accepted them on a
sector-by-sector basis. A member can make commitments (by mode of supply) to open its

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market to foreign service suppliers (market access – Article XVI) and/or to guarantee non-
discriminatory treatment between foreign and domestic suppliers (national treatment –
Article XVII). Sector-specific commitments are listed in ‘schedules of specific
commitments’. Members have complete flexibility to determine the sector coverage and
substantive content of schedules. There is no minimum for the number of sectors to be
included and while some countries have scheduled all major services sectors, others have
listed a limited number of sectors. All members were expected to commit at least one part of
a sector – usually in tourism. Members can also make market access and national treatment
commitments across sectors (again for each mode of supply) in what are known as horizontal
schedules of commitments. Sectoral and horizontal commitments and any limitations that
may be attached inscribed in a member’s schedule of commitments constitute legally binding
obligations.

There are some measures restrictive of market access, listed in Article XVI, which a member
cannot maintain or adopt, unless specified in its schedule of specific commitments:
1) Limits on the number of services suppliers;
2) Limits on the total value of services transactions or assets;
3) Limits on the total number of services operations or the total quantity of services
output;
4) Limits on the total number of natural persons that may be employed in a particular
sector;
5) Limits on specific types of legal entity through which services can be supplied; and,
6) Limits on foreign equity participation.
In contrast to the GATT, national treatment applies only to those services inscribed in a
member’s schedule and even then members can impose conditions and restrictions on
national treatment, provided they are listed in their schedule of specific commitments. Unlike
Article XVI, Article XVII provides no exhaustive list of measures inconsistent with national
treatment. Nevertheless it makes clear that all de jure and de facto limitations that favour
domestic suppliers must be scheduled if they are to be maintained.

Within the schedules of specific commitments:

• An entry of ‘none’ indicates that a member is bound to not having or introducing any
measures that restrict market access or national treatment for a specific sector and
mode of supply (but any limitations set out in the horizontal schedule still apply).
• The term ‘unbound’ indicates that no commitment has been made for a particular
mode of supply, and the member is free to introduce limitations inconsistent with
Articles XVI and XVII.
• ‘unbound*’ appears for sectors in which a particular mode of supply is not technically
feasible e.g. cross-border supply of bridge-building services.
• All other entries which include specification of some commitments and limitations
are known as ‘partial commitments’. A member is bound to not introducing any
additional restrictive measures that violate market access or national treatment for a
specific sector and mode of supply.

For sectors where WTO members have made specific commitments, Articles VI and VII deal
with domestic regulation and recognition, respectively. Since negotiated commitments on
market access and national treatment could be offset by restrictive domestic regulations these
rules aim to ensure a predictable regulatory environment. Although disciplines on domestic
regulation are still being developed, measures affecting trade in services must be

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administered ‘reasonably’, ‘objectively’ and ‘impartially’ and should not constitute
‘unnecessary’ barriers to trade.

Finally, under Article XVIII members have the option of making additional commitments by
listing liberalisation commitments that do not fall under market access or national treatment,
such as on licensing requirements and procedures.

Progressive liberalisation

Part IV of the GATS sets out future objectives for negotiations on services. As a result of the
Uruguay Round, WTO members committed under Article XIX of the GATS to resume
negotiations on all services sectors by later than 1 January 2000 – the GATS 2000
negotiations. On the basis of this, all WTO members were committed to start a new round of
negotiations, with a view to ‘achieving a progressively higher level of liberalisation’. Under
these guidelines, the scope of the negotiations has to be comprehensive without a priori
exclusion of any service sector of mode of supply. Though nothing specific to mode 4
negotiations appears in Article XIX, it emphasises the need to take into account the interests
of all participants as well as to provide for special attention to sectors and modes of supply of
export interest to developing countries. This was reiterated by the Doha Ministerial
Declaration.

As part of this, and according to Article XXI, members can modify their schedules of
specific commitments or withdraw any commitment within three years of it entering into
force. In such circumstances, any member may ask for compensation which, if agreed upon,
must be extended to all members.

Dispute settlement and annexes

Part V of the GATS sets out institutional provisions for consultation in case of possible
disputes between members and assigns the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism to resolve
and enforce decisions. Part VI contains the final provisions, including eight Annexes which
deal with MFN exemptions, movement of natural persons, air transport services, financial
services (2 annexes), maritime transport services, telecommunications (2 annexes).

116
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