What's Actually Working: Rwanda, Botswana, and Success Stories

What's Actually Working: Rwanda, Botswana, and Success Stories

We've spent weeks documenting what's wrong: the colonial legacies, the extraction economies, the debt traps, the puppet leaders, the stolen resources.

But if this blog is going to be honest, we also have to acknowledge what's right.

Because not everything in Africa is broken. Some countries are getting it right—or at least getting it more right than others. And their successes offer lessons that the rest of the continent can learn from.

Today we look at the bright spots: Rwanda, Botswana, Mauritius, and others. Not to pretend they're perfect—they're not—but to understand what good governance and smart policy can actually accomplish.

Botswana: The Diamond That Didn't Curse

When Botswana gained independence in 1966, it was one of the poorest countries on Earth. It had twelve kilometers of paved road. It had twenty-two university graduates in the entire country. It was landlocked, arid, and surrounded by hostile white-minority regimes.

Then they found diamonds.

In almost every other African country, that discovery would have been a curse. It would have meant corruption, conflict, foreign exploitation, and a small elite getting rich while everyone else stayed poor.

Botswana did something different.

Instead of handing diamond concessions to foreign companies or letting politicians loot the proceeds, Botswana negotiated a 50-50 partnership with De Beers. The government took its share and invested it: in education, healthcare, infrastructure, and a sovereign wealth fund for future generations.

The result? Botswana went from one of the world's poorest countries to an upper-middle-income nation in a single generation. It has free education through secondary school. It has one of Africa's best healthcare systems. It has infrastructure that works.

And in October 2024, Botswana proved it wasn't just economically successful—it was democratically mature.

After 58 years of rule by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), voters threw them out. The opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change won decisively. President Mokgweetsi Masisi conceded defeat gracefully. Power transferred peacefully.

This was Botswana's first-ever change of ruling party through elections. And it happened without violence, without military intervention, without constitutional crisis.

In a continent where incumbents routinely manipulate elections or refuse to leave, Botswana showed that democracy can work in Africa—if institutions are strong enough.

What Botswana got right:

• Negotiated fair deals for its resources instead of giving them away

• Invested resource revenues in public goods, not private pockets

• Built strong institutions that outlasted individual leaders

• Maintained democratic norms even when one party dominated

The limits: Botswana remains heavily dependent on diamonds. Its economy isn't diversified enough. Inequality is still high. And 58 years of one-party rule, even if democratic, created complacency. The 2024 election was partly a response to corruption scandals and economic stagnation under the BDP.

Rwanda: The Authoritarian Development Model

Rwanda's story is different—and more controversial.

Thirty years ago, Rwanda was synonymous with genocide. In 100 days in 1994, approximately 800,000 people were murdered. The country was destroyed—physically, socially, economically.

Today, Rwanda is Africa's cleanest country. Its capital, Kigali, has better roads and less litter than most European cities. GDP growth has averaged 7-8% annually for two decades. Life expectancy has doubled since 1994. The 2025 Chandler Good Government Index ranked Rwanda as the world's best-governed low-income country.

How did this happen?

Paul Kagame happened.

The man who led the rebel army that stopped the genocide has ruled Rwanda ever since—first as vice president and defense minister, then as president since 2000. He's won elections with 90%+ of the vote. His critics call these elections shams. His supporters say stability matters more than contested ballots when you're rebuilding from genocide.

Under Kagame, Rwanda has implemented reforms that other African countries only talk about:

• Anti-corruption: Rwanda ranks 54th globally on Transparency International's index—third-best in Africa, comparable to Greece. Officials who steal get prosecuted, even ministers.

• Ease of doing business: Rwanda consistently ranks among the easiest places to start a business in Africa. Bureaucracy has been streamlined. Permits that took months now take days.

• Technology adoption: Rwanda was an early adopter of drone delivery for medical supplies (Zipline). It's pushing for cashless payments. It's building a tech hub.

• Performance contracts: Every government official signs an "Imihigo"—a personal performance agreement with measurable targets. Miss your targets and you're out.

• Cleanliness campaigns: The famous monthly "Umuganda" requires all citizens to participate in community service, usually cleaning public spaces. It sounds authoritarian because it is. It also works.

What Rwanda got right:

• Zero tolerance for corruption (at least visible corruption)

• Streamlined bureaucracy and business environment

• Long-term planning (Vision 2050)

• Investment in technology and innovation

• Strong institutions (even if they serve the ruling party)

The limits: Rwanda is not a democracy. Political opposition is suppressed. Critics are jailed or worse. The press is not free. Kagame's government has been credibly accused of supporting rebels in neighboring Congo. And the economic success, while real, hasn't eliminated poverty—many Rwandans still live on subsistence farming.

The question Rwanda poses is uncomfortable: Can development justify authoritarianism? Is it better to have a benevolent dictator who delivers services than a chaotic democracy that doesn't?

There's no easy answer. But Rwanda proves that African governments can be effective when they choose to be. The competence exists. What's often missing elsewhere is the political will.

Mauritius: The African Tiger Nobody Mentions

When people list successful economies, they rarely mention Mauritius. They should.

This small island nation of 1.3 million people has transformed itself from a poor, sugar-dependent colony into a diversified upper-middle-income economy with a GDP per capita higher than any continental African country.

Mauritius did it without oil, without diamonds, without any significant natural resources. It did it through policy.

After independence in 1968, Mauritius built export processing zones that attracted manufacturing. Then it developed financial services and became an offshore banking center. Then it built a tourism industry. Then it invested in education and technology.

The result: Mauritius consistently ranks as Africa's best-governed country. The 2025 Chandler index places it 51st globally—ahead of Italy, ahead of Spain, ahead of many European nations.

Mauritius has:

• Universal healthcare

• Free education through university

• One of Africa's highest life expectancies

• Stable democracy with regular transfers of power

• Low corruption by regional standards

What Mauritius got right:

• Diversified early instead of depending on one commodity

• Invested heavily in education

• Built strong, independent institutions

• Maintained democratic stability across ethnic lines

• Positioned itself as a gateway for investment into Africa

The limits: Mauritius is small—policies that work for 1.3 million people may not scale to 200 million. It's an island, which simplifies border control and immigration. And its success as an offshore financial center has drawn criticism about tax avoidance.

Other Bright Spots

Ghana: West Africa's most stable democracy. Peaceful transfers of power between parties have become routine. The December 2024 election saw opposition leader John Mahama reclaim the presidency in a process praised for transparency.

Senegal: The 2024 election of Bassirou Diomaye Faye represented a generational shift—a young reformer defeating the establishment through the ballot box. Senegal's democratic culture, while imperfect, has proven resilient.

Cape Verde: Another small island success story. Strong institutions, stable democracy, high human development despite limited resources.

Morocco: Making significant advances in renewable energy, data transparency, and digital infrastructure. Not a democracy, but demonstrating that even monarchies can implement effective reforms.

The Common Threads

What do these success stories have in common?

1. Leadership that prioritizes national development over personal enrichment.

Whether democratic (Botswana) or authoritarian (Rwanda), successful African states have leaders who actually want the country to succeed—not just to extract wealth for themselves and their cronies.

2. Strong institutions that outlast individuals.

Botswana's democracy survived 58 years of one-party rule because institutions were strong enough to enforce a peaceful transfer of power. Rwanda's bureaucracy functions because systems exist to hold officials accountable.

3. Long-term planning.

Rwanda has Vision 2050. Botswana invested diamond revenues for future generations. Mauritius systematically diversified its economy over decades. Success requires thinking beyond the next election.

4. Investment in human capital.

Every successful African country prioritizes education and healthcare. You can't build a modern economy with an uneducated, unhealthy workforce.

5. Pragmatism over ideology.

Botswana partnered with De Beers rather than nationalizing diamonds. Mauritius built export zones to attract foreign manufacturing. Rwanda courts foreign investment aggressively. Successful countries do what works, not what sounds good.

The Hard Questions

These success stories raise uncomfortable questions:

Does democracy matter?

Rwanda's authoritarian model delivers results. Botswana's democracy took 58 years to produce a transfer of power. Is good governance more important than democratic governance?

Can success scale?

Mauritius has 1.3 million people. Botswana has 2.5 million. Rwanda has 13 million. Can these models work for Nigeria (230 million) or Ethiopia (120 million)?

Is geography destiny?

Three of our success stories are small. Two are islands. Does size and location determine what's possible?

What about resources?

Botswana had diamonds. Most African countries don't. Can you replicate Botswana's success without a resource windfall to invest?

The Real Lesson

The real lesson from these success stories isn't that Africa needs to copy any particular model. It's that African countries can succeed—that poverty and dysfunction aren't inevitable.

Botswana proves that resources can be managed responsibly.

Rwanda proves that governments can be efficient.

Mauritius proves that small countries can punch above their weight.

Ghana and Senegal prove that democracy can work in Africa.

The obstacles facing African development are real: colonial legacies, unfair trade rules, debt traps, foreign interference. We've documented all of them.

But the obstacles aren't insurmountable. Other countries have overcome worse. And some African countries are already showing the way.

The question isn't whether Africa can develop. It's whether the rest of the continent will learn from those who already are.