3-7 Botswana vs Zambia, a Closer Look

After our first 30 days in Botswana, and letting the excitement abate over being in a developed country I’d like to take the time to list what separates this beautiful country from Zambia.

Corruption: Botswana = No tolerance. Zambia = Rampant. For example, our speeding tickets in Zambia were fabricated by the cops by not resetting the radar gun and targeted at Muzungus to pay. We were victims of this, and decided not to pay because (1) they were wrong and (2) they had no central database to track if we did pay or not. In Botswana, everything is computerized in a central database, and cops issue official receipts when you break the law. We were victims of this too (and yes, I paid but really, officer, I didn’t see the temporary stop sign at the road block!).

Roads: We actually see road crews repairing potholes in the roads. Botswana prides itself on its highways and transport infrastructure and it shows. Driving here is almost as smooth as the States (you just have to watch out for the elephants- which is another story!).

Garbage: Like any developed nation, Botswana runs an efficient, centralized, garbage/sanitary body that manages and disposes of public waste. In Zambia’s case, there is no government trash pick-up. Private compounds (i.e. rich people neighborhoods) have private companies that clean their area, and the rest of the country is essentially a trash can. When a country takes pride of its cleanliness, citizens respond with National pride (Singapore and Botswana are prime examples). When a country (like Zambia) doesn’t, then people don’t care about public property and litter, spit, desecrate, everywhere. Bottom line: Botswana is sparkles where Zambia rots.

Sex: Public sex education seems more open here, and the HIV/AIDS stigma does not seem as harsh. I have seen many free male & female condom dispensers in government buildings, bars, gyms, the university, hotels, and bathrooms- they even carry the country’s flag as if it is your national duty to wear a condom! Posters are everywhere promoting safe sex, abstinence etc., just like in Zambia, but there are even posters promoting masturbation saying it’s not wrong and (obviously) safer then sex with a partner (you’d never see that in conservative Zambia). HIV/AIDS is actually more prevalent here than in Zambia with about 18% infection rate among adults. With a population of about 1.7 million, this is a devastating statistic when you consider the while generation the disease will wipe out and the orphans it will leave. The government has a no-holds-barred approach to tackling the disease with the help of NGOs and the US Government. ARVs are provided free from the government, healthcare is more aware to the problems/complications of the disease, and prevention programs are a full-scale war on the deadly virus. All this is in an effort to reverse the effects of the virus and prolong the life of Botswana’s workforce.

Capitalism: Seems like African countries nowadays must show its development (or modernity) by what products it make available to the public. Consumerism is rampant here. You can get anything from the Malls. And yes they have Malls – just as big and grand as the States. The malls have escalators (which we rode just for fun… I guess its been a while!). The people also have trouble saving – judging from the sales, and media OpEds. Batswanas are no different from Americans, it’s a consumer culture here. All the shops offer credit, layaways, and pay later scheme. This is a far cry from Zambia where you’d have to eat your heart out to find a shop that allows you to pay with credit card or store credit.

Bogus Marketing Celebrations: Back to consumerism, you can tell how far a country has gone onto the “developed western marketing dark-side” by what occasions in promotes. In Botswana, Christmas and Valentine’s Day were huge sale opportunities to be milked. In Zambia, you hardly heard anything, or felt the “spirit” or saw decorations in the streets.

Water: You can drink it here, straight from the tap. You can’t do that in Zambia, or even the bulk of the African countries (even some parts of South Africa).

Beggars: Being a richer country, a government that does not tolerate corruption, and one that provides care for its citizens, it is easy to see why we’ve only come across ONE beggar in our whole 30 days here. In Zambia, we’d have 30 street kids begging from us in one day. Needless to say, it’s a lot easier being a tourist here.

Despite all the differences between the two countries, Botswana is still Africa (I mean everything that is charming and beautiful about the continent). You have the unbelievable game parks. You have your local street stall markets colorfully shielding the front of the contrasting corporate supermarkets. You hear drumming in the streets, people are always friendly and tickled when you attempt to speak with them in the local language. Everyone has more than one “project” going on in order to sustain their lifestyle. For instance, the lodge where we stayed, the Nigerian manager ran a used car sale lot during the day. Many Africans have their hand in different income generating schemes –it’s their most secure way to ensure financial stability. Diversifying our portfolio in the stock market to us is the same as diversifying their income streams.

Botswana is the Africa many countries on the continent strive to be.