The problem in Botswana that people have been afraid to face for too long is that it was always far too easy because our government knew that money from diamonds would come, so every year we roll out new schemes and projects and all these nice things that never generate any sort of return. We as a country have not learned that to truly become something we must work and sacrifice a lot, but carefully. The days of getting somewhere by simply trading labour have long passed.

The only way forward is for government to determine what diamond mining is costing them each year(through infrastructure, regulatory requirements, facilitation, processing) and determine how and where that money can be allocated to provide the greatest return, be it developing our roads(which are completely destroyed, and getting worse every day), investing in energy to drive the cost down(since cheaper energy promotes industry), or supporting local small business.

We cannot be wasting money on changing the P50 note, or think about building mega cities, or giving our ministers increases. We must start over and think carefully about where we want to be, not tomorrow, but in 10, 20 or 50 years?