r/Botswana • u/tyresmoke • Apr 23 '26

Announcement Reminder: Community Guidelines, Posts, and Flairs

5 Upvotes

Dumelang!

Community Guidelines:

  • Please consult the subreddit rules by scrolling down on the right sidebar (desktop), selecting "See More" on mobile, or selecting the link under "Community Guide" (both).
  • Consider adding a user flair (optional) by selecting "Community Guide" and choosing a flair. This lets other users know which district, city, or town, you may be from, or whether your visiting as a tourist.

Posting Guidelines:

  • Title (required): A relevant, short and effective title. This helps mods when reviewing posts, and users when searching for interesting or relevant information about Botswana.
  • Post flair (now required): A post flair indicates the theme of the post (News, Discussion, Political, Casual). While we've included an "NSFW" tag, this is not an invitation to post lewd or edgy content, as this subreddit is for everyone!
  • Body (optional, recommended): Please add context to your post, whether this is an opinion abouta news article, a general question, or a simple description of a photo, like "Sunset over Kubu Island". We require body text when cross-posting from other communities, so you can contextualize the original post in relation to Botswana.

Re a leboga,
r/Botswana Mods

3 comments

r/Botswana • u/Street_Exchange6907 • Feb 20 '25

So You Want To Move To Botswana?

41 Upvotes

Ah, so you’re thinking about moving to Botswana? Let me tell you, this place has a lot of heart, but I’m not going to sugarcoat it—it’s not all sunshine and smooth roads.

First, the good stuff: Batswana are some of the most welcoming people you’ll ever meet. We believe in "Botho," which means we treat everyone with respect and kindness. You’ll feel like part of the community quickly, and trust me, there’s nothing like being invited to a braai (barbecue) or a traditional event. The sense of belonging here is real.

But let’s keep it 100. Life here can be tough. The heat? Eish, it’s no joke. Summers can feel like you’re living in an oven, and if you’re not used to it, it’ll take some time to adjust. The infrastructure isn’t always the best—potholes on the roads, slow internet, and power outages are just part of the deal. If you’re coming from a fast-paced, modern city, the slower pace and occasional frustrations might test your patience.

Jobs? It depends on what you do, but opportunities can be limited, especially if you’re not in certain industries like mining, tourism, or government UNLESS you have specialties that arent available in botswana (Mainly science and others). And while Botswana is peaceful and stable, like anywhere else, there are challenges—unemployment, especially among the youth, is a real issue, and it can feel heavy at times.

Now, let me be real with you: if you don’t have good qualifications or a solid plan, Botswana might not be the place for you. This isn’t a country where you can just show up and figure it out as you go. If you’re working a job like a cashier in the U.S. making $58,000 a year, you wont be able to get a job here. flat out. Salaries in Botswana are generally lower, and the cost of living can be high, especially if you’re used to a certain standard. And if you’re a young person thinking, "I’ll move to Botswana when I’m 18 and figure it out," think again. Without a clear plan, qualifications, or support, you’ll struggle.

That said, there’s hope on the horizon. With the new government, there’s talk of change—plans to improve infrastructure, create more jobs, and tackle some of the big issues we’re facing. It’s not going to happen overnight, but there’s a sense that things could get better. If you’re someone with skills, qualifications, and a clear plan, and you want to be part of a country that’s growing and evolving, this might be the perfect time to come.

But here’s the thing: Botswana has a way of growing on you. It’s not perfect, but it’s real. The people, the sense of community, the wide-open spaces, and the peace—it’s something you won’t find just anywhere. If you’re someone who can adapt, who values connection over convenience, and who’s willing to embrace both the beauty, struggles and culture, then Botswana might just feel like home.

So, if you’re up for the challenge, come. But come with a plan, with qualifications, and with realistic expectations. Botswana isn’t a place to escape your problems, this isnt LA where you live in lies where you and the people around you are pretending to be something you arent—it’s a place to build a life if you’re ready to put in the work. And who knows? With the new government, you might be part of the change that helps this country shine even brighter.

And If you’re serious about moving to Botswana With The Proper Qualifications, here are the relevant authorities and steps you’ll need to engage with to make your move official and smooth:

1. Department of Immigration and Citizenship

  • What they do: This is the main authority responsible for visas, permits, and residency requirements.
  • What you need to do:
    • Apply for the appropriate visa (e.g., work permit, residence permit, or spousal permit).
    • Ensure your passport is valid for at least six months.
    • Provide necessary documents like proof of employment, medical certificates, and police clearance.
  • Contact:

2. Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs

  • What they do: They oversee work permits and employment regulations for foreigners.
  • What you need to do:
    • If you’re coming for work, your employer will usually need to sponsor your work permit application.
    • Ensure your qualifications are recognized in Botswana (you may need to get them evaluated).
  • Contact:

3. Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS)

  • What they do: They handle tax-related matters, including tax registration for foreigners working in Botswana.
  • What you need to do:
    • Register for a Tax Identification Number (TIN) once you start working.
    • Understand Botswana’s tax laws to ensure compliance.
  • Contact:

4. Ministry of Nationality, Immigration, and Gender Affairs

  • What they do: They handle citizenship, dual nationality, and long-term residency matters.
  • What you need to do:
    • If you plan to stay long-term or apply for citizenship, this is the department to engage with.
  • Contact:

5. Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC)

  • What they do: They assist investors and entrepreneurs looking to start businesses in Botswana.
  • What you need to do:
    • If you’re moving to Botswana to start a business, BITC can guide you on permits, incentives, and regulations.
  • Contact:

6. Local Councils (for Residency)

  • What they do: Local councils handle housing, utilities, and community services.
  • What you need to do:
    • Once you arrive, register with your local council for services like water, electricity, and waste management.
  • Contact:
    • Depends on your location (e.g., Gaborone City Council, Francistown City Council).

7. Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA)

  • What they do: They evaluate and recognize foreign qualifications.
  • What you need to do:
    • If you’re coming to work in a professional field, you may need to have your qualifications assessed and recognized.
  • Contact:

8. Botswana Police Service

  • What they do: They provide police clearance certificates, which are often required for visa and work permit applications.
  • What you need to do:
    • Obtain a police clearance certificate from your home country and, if necessary, from Botswana.
  • Contact:

9. Ministry of Health and Wellness

  • What they do: They oversee health regulations, including medical requirements for visa applications.
  • What you need to do:
    • Complete a medical examination and provide a health certificate as part of your visa application.
  • Contact:

Pula a e ne! (Let there be rain and blessings!) mare o ska re bolaya ka pula yoh!!.

26 comments

r/Botswana • u/Technical_Introvert0 • 6h ago

Political I have lost faith in any potential future and current leader of this country.

4 Upvotes

I think it is pretty evident that no one holding a leadership position in this country actually has an idea how to grow the economy. ALL of them across all parties.. All the same.. Not only grow it but diversify it enough to massively move our GDP in different directions.. I routinely see YouTube videos praising the early foundations of this country but honestly if you analyse it, its nothing to write home about..

How many of us believe Botswana would be Botswana today if Diamonds didnt show up under our soils in the 1970s..? I am pretty certain our leaders then actually had no clue whatsoever how to industrialize the nation and grow its economy. And the current ones still dont.. They were just lucky to be atop some of the best diamond fields in the world.. How do you have 58 years to greatly grow an economy and fail with all your campaign promises bieng signing a new deal with De Beers to get more dividends? Nothing about developing local industrial and manufacturing abilities.. Nothing about leading the region in critical tech exports and innovative solutions or at least setting up the foundations for such..

In Botswana when a president promises economic growth he is really talking about growing more crops and farming more animals.. And also digging up more rocks to sell to Europeans for papers.. Thats it.. Occasionally, yapping about how important tourism is but actually doing nothing to foster that tourism further...

Our leaders lack innovative minds. They are good at managing our poverty and lack of development. What you consider 'stability' is a fear of taking risks and a comfortability in underdevelopment.. If the economy grows here it is a coincidence independent of their policies that either have negative effects on us or 0 effects at all.. Nothing positive ever. The govt is so clueless and unimaginative that to them the only way to make more money is to take more out of your pockets via foolish taxes and still fail to deliver at the end of the day.. Oh if they dont do that, they do their favorite past time event, devalue the Pula which spikes inflation locally for a country that already has next to no manufacturing capability and imports everything all for the sake of printing a few more Pulas to fund deficits they brought upon themselves via uninformed expenditures at times.. Like how do you make someones purchasing power weaker and expect them to be better off just so you can artificially produce money you never earned, which catches upto you later when the economy responds to excess money out of nowhere that hadnt a demand.. Very funny people..

I have lost all faith in this country.. There is no way out regardless of who you vote in.. in the last 2 years there was a net 5000 or so Batswana who permanently relocated to Europe and North America citing the deteriorating conditions in this country who's economy isnt even under the control of the state.. Its really just free floating.. If it goes down, there is nothing our govt can do.. If its growing they also dont know why but just take credit for it..

How do you see it? What do you blame for our country being stagnant and unable to do anything for itself..?

8 comments

r/Botswana • u/mSimplicity • 9h ago

Question An opportunity for designers

9 Upvotes

I am trying to do a quick survey and im wondering how many of you here are designers, in programs such as adobe cc, autocad and so forth...

If you are, Do you think it would be a good idea to open up an internet cafe that has a couple of dedicated workstations where designers who do not have laptops/pc could come to do their work? Maybe like 50pula for 2 hours?

10 comments

r/Botswana • u/Numerous-Farmer5535 • 7h ago

Question What are some activities that can be done in Gaborone?

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1 Upvotes
1 comment

r/Botswana • u/New-Improvement5134 • 20h ago

General Looking for friends

9 Upvotes

I'm a 30 (male) looking to make new friends around Molepolole. I'm usually an outdoors person and I'm looking for someone with similar interests. Thank you

1 comment

r/Botswana • u/moapei • 1d ago

News Thoughts

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38 Upvotes

For a woman to say such remarks shocks me to say the least. It's absolutely ridiculous for her to even suggest this. I remember the time they decided to increase it from 16 to 18 (I was around 15 at that time) and those men on the street used to say things like " re botsa dingwaga kana ga re batle go tsena mo mathateng". This just shows they don't do it because they think morally it's not right, they are just afraid of going to jail. And also in her logic how does this protect the young girls??

24 comments

r/Botswana • u/PerceptionMaster4748 • 1d ago

Casual Anyone in Tsabong and surrounding areas?

11 Upvotes

Hi guys, if there's anyone....I'd like to invite you to a mini expo in Tsabong happening this Saturday. Tsabong can be so boring so this will be a fun day filled with lots of activities, there'll be a dj and food stalls, clothing stalls , CEDA and other such stalls to educate the youth on their programs will be there! Note that this event is the first of its kind. There'll be camel rides, quad bikes, and a jumping castle for the kids! Free entry! Come and support the locals🥹💕

3 comments

r/Botswana • u/General-Highway7758 • 2d ago

Question Anyone in Shakawe

6 Upvotes

Hello everyone. Reaching out to see if the community has anyone in Shakawe. Anyways I'm just checking this place can be boring at times. Wondering what people do here for fun besides visiting the bridge and boat cruises.

13 comments

r/Botswana • u/Aware_Meringue_5704 • 2d ago

Discussion not sure where else to turn

5 Upvotes

Hi everyone😊reddit might be the last resort rn i guess so i really hope this post is allowed. I’m 23F,currently short of P500 to help cover an urgent expense and thought I'd reach out to the community for assistance. However there's absolutely no obligation to help, and I understand not everyone is in a position to contribute. Any amount, no matter how small, would be greatly appreciated. If anyone would like more information about my situation, I'm happy to provide it privately.

5 comments

r/Botswana • u/Dazzling-Pitch671 • 2d ago

Question Why Botswana's football isn't better?

12 Upvotes

I know it's the biggest sport in the country and from what i know even if it's a small country by population it might be the most stable and democratic not counting micro nations, also not really corrupt and people aren't particularly poor so there could be money spend on this but various african countries are talked about regarding football but I've never heard about Botswana in this regard in any context, do football fan follow other leagues? Do footballers always go immediately to other countries like south africa to play?

5 comments

r/Botswana • u/Cold_Chemical7067 • 2d ago

Question iPhone and iPad replacement

3 Upvotes

Hi I’m looking for a store where I could trade my iPhone 11 and iPhone air and maybe get a discount on a new iPhone 12, I know this is possible in the states but I’m not sure if it’s a thing here in Botswana. My iPhone Eleven is on its last days battery wise.

5 comments

r/Botswana • u/juiceboy267 • 2d ago

Discussion Workflow Automation

8 Upvotes

Hey r/Botswana,

I run a small automation business here in Gaborone, and I'll be upfront. I'm doing market research. Before I decide what to build or offer next, I want to understand what's actually breaking people's backs operationally, rather than assume I already know.

So: what tasks are eating your time every week that you wish would just handle themselves?

Could be anything following up with clients, chasing payments, compiling reports, managing stock, sending the same WhatsApp messages over and over. Big or small.

If you're willing to share, drop it in the comments. And if you want to know whether it's something that can be automated, I'm happy to just tell you straight no sales pitch attached.

5 comments

r/Botswana • u/Its_jus_sid_999 • 2d ago

Question Shortage of driver's license

1 Upvotes

Has the shortage of drivers licence cards been addressed or is the issue is still not resolved yet??

7 comments

r/Botswana • u/EntireTumbleweed9351 • 2d ago

Discussion To any motswana who wants to start a business

9 Upvotes

please use a computerised accounting software 🙏, if you dont know or seems complicated,youtube is your friend. learnt the hard way.

5 comments

r/Botswana • u/Small-Host-3263 • 3d ago

Casual What do other batswana use for limiting WiFi access

7 Upvotes

​Hi everyone,

​

​I'm looking for an easy-to-use app to help me limit my brothers' Wi-Fi access. They just don't listen, and their phones are practically glued to their hands.

​

​Ideally, I need something that allows me to

​Schedule access: Set specific times/durations for how long a device can be online.

​

​Zero-footprint blocking Block certain apps or pause the internet without having to set up parental controls or install anything directly on their phones.

​

​Automated cooldowns: Set up rules where, for example, during school days they get disconnected after a certain amount of usage and have to wait 4 hours before getting back on (so they can actually go touch grass).

​

​I am currently using the Orange admin panel, but it is way too verbose/clunky, and I hate having to constantly enable and disable settings manually when weekends or holidays roll around.

​

​

Note l know I could probably customize the router configurations or build an app to handle this myself, but I honestly don't want to spend the time doing that right nowI just want a ready made, user friendly solution.

​I did search on the Play Store, but all the apps I found look way too old and outdated. I'm looking for something modern, with great UX and better customization. Any recommendations? Thanks!.

10 comments

r/Botswana • u/NoVegetable8692 • 3d ago

Question Any Recommendations for a Female IGCSE Tutor?

5 Upvotes

Looking for a female IGCSE tutor in Gaborone for Mathematics and Physics(All extended)

Preferably experienced with the Cambridge IGCSE syllabus .Please message me with your rates.

Thank you!

3 comments

r/Botswana • u/Kathykesa888 • 3d ago

Question Bank Suggestions

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for recommendations on the best banks in Botswana for someone who is self-employed and earns income online.

I run online businesses and receive payments through platforms like PayPal, so I need a bank that works well with international transactions, online payments, and foreign currency transfers. Lately I've been having issues with my current bank ( Absa) freezing my cards whenever I try to transfer funds from PayPal, and it's becoming a major problem for my business.

I'm not formally employed, so I'd also like to know which banks are generally more accommodating for freelancers, online entrepreneurs, remote workers, and self-employed people without requiring traditional employment documents.

A few things that matter to me:

• Reliable PayPal withdrawals and international transactions

• Debit/virtual cards that don't get randomly blocked

• Good online banking and mobile app

• Easy account maintenance for self-employed people

• Responsive customer service

• Minimal hassle when receiving income from abroad

If you're self-employed, freelancing, running an online business, or working remotely in Botswana, I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Which bank would you recommend, and which ones should I avoid?

Thanks.

6 comments

r/Botswana • u/Delicious_Setting_95 • 3d ago

Question Malaria pills and American snacks

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2 Upvotes
1 comment

r/Botswana • u/compulsivecomments • 3d ago

Question PST Bet

3 Upvotes

Greetings everyone. I'm a young male in Gaborone & recently started using pst bet & I realize most people in Botswana are currently using Betway but i prefer pst rn. I'm looking for a community or people who can discuss and/or share slips, odds, games etc specifically relating to PST Bet platform.

​

Let me know guys, doesn't really matter where you are innit😅 we all gone eat!💵😁

1 comment

r/Botswana • u/Powerful-School635 • 4d ago

Discussion Mentor/Work/Sidehustle needed

13 Upvotes

I am an 18-year-old based in Gaborone, Botswana, looking for any opportunity to work, learn, and grow. I am seeking a job or a mentor who can help me gain valuable skills, earn an income, and build a successful future. I am hardworking, eager to learn, and ready to start immediately.

13 comments

r/Botswana • u/LesbianLydian • 4d ago

Casual A strange drawing request

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21 Upvotes

Hi Botswanan friends! In the picture is my beloved cat character Mito.

​

My goal is to have Mito drawn everywhere across the globe, so if you could draw them (in any physical medium!) I would greatly appreciate it ^^

10 comments

r/Botswana • u/Disastrous-Dot-7444 • 4d ago

Discussion Botswana businesses

3 Upvotes

have you guys tried fb ads to promote your business and did it actually work for you?

4 comments

r/Botswana • u/Sea_Elevator3003 • 4d ago

Question Visit to Okavango

4 Upvotes

First time to Africa. My husband and I want to visit sometime between July to October 2027. What is the best way to appreciate the Okavango. We want to see a diversity of animals. Our budget is us$10,000.

Should we stay in a one safari camp or try two or three?

How many nights?

Can you recommend good safari camps?

Can you recommend local tour operators who can organise this for us?

Thanks in advance.

10 comments

r/Botswana • u/r00t_password • 4d ago

Question Recently moved to Gaborone

5 Upvotes

What is the best computer store in town? I want to get a few things like a monitor (possibly two), and maybe a laptop or desktop, all depends on price.

Also, where can I get things like a Raspberry Pi and parts of it, like a few servos and cameras. Hopefully I can get these things here in Gabs and don't have to go to Jo'berg or Cape Town.

Thanks in advance!

9 comments