While Botswana has turned the corner toward a mature democracy, its problems will not disappear.
Anthony (Tony) Carroll, Esq. is a nonresident scholar in the Carnegie Africa Program. He is a lawyer and international affairs consultant in Washington, DC. He is founding managing director of Acorus Capital, a private equity fund investing in Africa, and senior advisor of Manchester Trade, Ltd., a Washington, DC-based trade policy and investment advisory firm.
He began his work in Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana from 1976–1978 and returned to the agency to serve as assistant general counsel from 1986 to 1989. Since then, he has advised organizations including the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other bilateral development organizations. He was instrumental in the design and passage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). His current board memberships include the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Africa program, the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, and the Presidential Precinct. Formerly, he served as a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a charter member for the at the U.S. Trade Representative’s Trade Advisory Committee on Africa, and an adjunct professor of African Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
While Botswana has turned the corner toward a mature democracy, its problems will not disappear.
The contest could be another notch in the ANC’s winning streak or a watershed moment for South Africa’s pluralistic democracy.