Much has been said about the envisaged billion pula railway line linking Botswana to Namibia. Many applaud the decision to construct the line as it would bring about much needed investment in the economy and jobs during the construction phase. It would also improve access to global markets through Namibia’s ports. As days go by it is becoming very clear that the one commodity that is going to be transported through the railway line is coal taking into consideration the location of the bulk of Botswana’s large coal reserves and the purported route of the railway line. If any of this is true then we still have a long way to go as a country as this would be testament to our hypocritical way of thinking. On the one hand we are blaming De Beers for keeping Batswana in the dark regarding diamond beneficiation for so many years and yet we are prepared to export all other commodities without even trying to add some sort of value to them.
We know that coal can be used to generate electricity and we know that there is acute shortage of electricity in the region and yet we are prepared to bypass all these opportunities and spend billions in the process just to sell our raw coal to the international market. Jobs created by a new power station built for the regional market would not only be more valuable but they would be long lasting. The price of electricity is much more stable compared to the price of coal and as such it brings about more stability not just to the energy sector but to the much troubled mining sector. We wouldn’t even have to worry about China’s slowing demand for coal. The government won’t even have to spend half as much as it is looking to spend as the private sector could easily develop both the mines and the power station and intra-regional trade within SADC would grow. In return government stands to generate greater revenue in taxing both the mines and the power station which would be selling a better priced product. The issue here should be what do we really want to export: coal or electricity?
We are not against the construction of the railway line for any other reasons but what we are saying is that maybe we should revisit the idea and see if it is still as noble as we think it is. Building a railway line just to export coal is no different to a farmer who builds a tarred road from his farm to BMC so that he can sell his cattle except that there is no rational thinking farmer who would do that. Maybe we are just using De Beers as a scapegoat while we were all so happy to spend the revenues that came from the sale of rough diamonds to even consider the cumbersome processes that come with down-stream activities. It seems like our primary concern is generating revenue more than it is about addressing the economic problems faced by the country. We need to realize that in the case of coal there is no De Beers to blame. We will have no one but ourselves to blame. We will continue to have a rich government with poor citizens if we don’t change tact.
