Botswana is an upper-middle-income country with aspirations in its long-term development strategy, Vision 2036, to graduate to a high-income country with equal opportunity and prosperity for all. At the heart of these aspirations is its population and the implications of the demographic transition that has taken place in the country over the last few decades.Against this backdrop, the Government of Botswana, through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MFED), and in collaboration with UNFPA commissioned the Botswana National Demographic Dividend Study in 2016. AFIDEP was the technical lead the study, working in partnership with the University of Botswana and University of Cape Town. The study set out to analyse the population dynamics and age-structure changes in Botswana in the medium to long-term and the implications these will have on the ability of the country to maximise its Demographic Dividend (DD).Botswana is in advanced stages of the demographic transition relative to most countries in Africa; however, it has not fully optimised its youth thus there is need for urgent action to address challenges preventing the country from harnessing a DD. AFIDEP now seeks to implement the recommendations of the Botswana DD study through developing a DD Roadmap.
