Botswana's progress.

I was very impressed by your article on Botswana ('How Botswana avoided the resource curse,' African Business, February 2009 issue). The writer, Hippolyte Fofack, was refreshingly honest. The fact is that income growth in Botswana has still not defeated the country's poverty but Botswana nevertheless provides a shining example of what a country, possessing natural resources and a will to use them constructively, can achieve.

Natural resources on our continent, so often described as an 'African curse' due to the conflict, corruption and commodity dependence they create, tend to breed a culture of greed that requires those that seek to exploit them to be politically dominant in order to secure the revenues they generate.

The Botswana government's establishment of a Sustainable Budget Index has complemented anti-corruption incentives and the legislation already in place. Botswana has been able to transfer resource revenues into developing the health and education services.

That has attracted the citizens of other African countries such as myself (originally from Uganda) to come to Botswana. They have met with a welcome that is in complete contrast to South Africa's xenophobia.

Botswana is also developing fair and rewarding relationships with foreign trade partners, including Scandinavia and Saudi Arabia, to complement the business it undertakes with its traditional trading partners.

As much as economic development and poverty reduction have been essential to Botswana's growth, the democratic transfer of power between successive presidents has contributed to the country's steady progress.

So it was also heartening to read Alfred Sayila's report on the former Botswana president, Festus Mogae, receiving the Mo Ibrahim Foundation's $5m prize for good governance in Africa ('Festus Mogae--pure diamond of a leader', African Business, March 2008).

I heard Mogae deliver an inspiring speech at the celebrations, showing a humility that is all too rare these days. He told the audience: "I did not create the democracy in my country, I consolidated it and deepened it by practicing accountable governance, respect for the rule of law, independence of the courts, respect for human rights, including women's rights".

When the great Sir Seretse Khama transferred diamond mining rights from a single ethnic group to the state, he acted in the nation's interest. That helped create a nation-state that has never experienced a coup or conflict since its 1966 independence. Escaping the 'resource curse' requires more than good policy, as the solid institutions created by Khama and now maintained by his son, the current president Ian Khama, prove. Botswana is a shining example to all its fellow African Union members.

Semuwemba Ssenyonjo

Gaborone, Botswana