Botswana Records Limited Progress in Global Digital Race
GABORONE: November 4th, 2025: Botswana continues to show limited progress in the fast-evolving global digital landscape. In the newly released IMD World Digital Competitiveness Report 2025, the country ranks 61st out of 69 high- and middle-income economies — a slight decline from 60th position in 2024. Although Botswana’s competitiveness score rose modestly from 46.01 to 48.30 out of 100, this 2% improvement was not enough to prevent a drop in rank as other economies accelerated more rapidly in innovation and technology adoption. The report evaluates how effectively countries develop, adopt, and harness digital innovation across three critical factors: Knowledge, Technology, and Future Readiness.
The Knowledge factor, which evaluates a country’s ability to generate, absorb, and transfer innovation, recorded a notable decline from being ranked 49th in 2024 (with a score of 49.71 out of 100) to 61st in 2025 (with a score of 40.29 out of 100). This drop was largely driven by weaker performances in Scientific Concentration and Training & Education, where Botswana ranked 66th and 58th, respectively, in 2025 — down sharply from 31st and 37th, respectively, the previous year. This underscores the urgent need to invest more deeply in research, higher education, and technology-driven innovation to build a stronger domestic knowledge base. The Talent subfactor, which measures the quality, mobility, and skills of a country’s workforce, also declined from 31st in 2024 to 42nd in 2025. Yet within this area, Botswana also demonstrated a strength, with its ranking for attracting highly skilled foreign personnel improving from 17th to 11th. This growing inflow of technical expertise, if harnessed effectively, could help stimulate innovation and enhance knowledge transfer across sectors.
Under the Technology factor, which measures the environment that supports digital development, Botswana showed a modest improvement, moving from 57th place in 2024 (with a score of 44.63 out of 100) to 55th in 2025 (with a score of 46.98 out of 100). A noteworthy gain was recorded in immigration policy, where Botswana’s ranking improved from 28th in 2024 to 16th in 2025, signalling a more open and adaptive policy stance toward attracting international digital professionals and investors. Botswana also performed well in telecommunications investment, ranking 22nd, positioning itself among Africa’s top performers in this area. This strength is reinforced by the continued expansion of broadband connectivity through government programmes such as the Smart Bots initiative, which is steadily improving digital access, innovation, and inclusion across the country. The recent rollout of Starlink operations in Botswana further enhances connectivity, particularly in remote and underserved areas, expanding opportunities for digital participation and inclusion. Irrespective, the Technology factor also reveals persistent bottlenecks. Starting a business remains a major weakness, maintaining a low ranking of 65th for the second consecutive year. Similarly, the banking and financial services recorded a slight decline — slipping from 50th in 2024 to 51st in 2025. In addition, internet bandwidth speed and high-technology exports continue to lag behind, ranked 67th and 66th respectively.
The Future Readiness factor, which measures a country’s preparedness to harness digital transformation, recorded a slight decline in Botswana’s ranking from 64th with an improved score of 39.48 out of 100 in 2025 compared to 62nd with a score of 36.69 out of 100 in 2024. The country’s key strength under this factor remains Knowledge Transfer, ranked 29th despite a slight decline from 23rd the previous year. This reflects Botswana’s capacity for collaboration and exchange of expertise supported by the ongoing sharing of knowledge, skills, and technologies among sectors. Additional strengths were observed in Public–Private Partnerships (35th) and Privacy Protection Laws (33rd), reflecting Botswana’s commitment to strengthening cooperation between sectors and ensuring a secure digital environment. Despite these strengths, Botswana continues to face challenges in E-Participation (64th) and E-Government (63rd), where limited citizen engagement and online service delivery hinder digital maturity. Weaknesses in Software Piracy (63rd) and Government Cybersecurity Capacity (57th) further highlight the importance of strengthening data protection and digital resilience.
Overall, the 2025 results paint a picture of Botswana as a nation laying the groundwork for digital transformation, yet still struggling to translate infrastructure gains into knowledge-driven growth and sustainable digital readiness. Going forward, as Botswana embraces the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP), closing the digital competitiveness gap will require strengthening digital skills, enhancing institutional agility, and fostering a culture of innovation. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that the country’s digital transformation not only connects people but also equips them to adapt, create, and thrive in a rapidly evolving digital future.
Globally, Switzerland (1st), the United States (2nd), and Singapore (3rd) continue to lead the digital competitiveness rankings due to their strong innovation ecosystems and human capital advantages. In contrast, Nigeria ranking 68th and Venezuela ranking 69th remain at the bottom, reflecting persistent challenges in infrastructure and institutional capacity.
For more information please contact: Mr Letsogile Batsetswe and Ms Baone Ntsinyane at 3626300 or email: LetsogileB@bnpc.bw or BaoneN@bnpc.bw. The full Report can be accessed at www.imd.org and www.imd.org/wcc.
