Botswana–Namibia relations refers to the current and historical relationship between

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. Botswana gained independence from Britain in September 1966.

gained independence from South Africa in 1990 following the

Namibian War of Independence The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

, and the two countries soon after established formal diplomatic relations. Botswana has a high commission in

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

and Namibia has one in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

. Both countries are members of the

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Goals The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and se ...

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

Group of 77 The Group of 77 (G77) at the United Nations (UN) is a coalition of developing country, developing countries, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. T ...

, and

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

Treaties

As of 2008, there was no treaty covering the long border between Botswana and Namibia. The border remains as defined by a treaty signed on 1 July 1890 between Great Britain and Germany delimiting their respective spheres of influence in Africa. Disputes about the border led in the 1990s to considerable tension between the two governments. In 1994, Botswana, Namibia and

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

agreed to establish the Okavango River Basin Commission, with a view to establishing a treaty governing joint use of the water resources, but progress towards finalizing the treaty has been slow. In 2004, Botswana and Namibia were cosignatories along with other states of the

Zambezi The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

river basin of an agreement establishing the Zambezi Watercourse Commission to manage the riparian resources of the Zambezi.

Economic cooperation

In 2002, the Namibia and Botswana Power Corporations signed an agreement to supply electricity to the

Ghanzi Ghanzi is a town in the middle of the Kalahari Desert the western part of the Republic of Botswana in southern Africa. The region is the country's pride in contributing a large portion towards the beef industry. In fact, Ghanzi farmers provide a ...

and De Hoek areas in Botswana and Namibia respectively. Namibia and Botswana have been considering collaboration on development of new fiber-optic communications to bypass South Africa, in an effort to reduce costs. In 2008, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe held a legal joint sale behind closed doors in Namibia of seven tons of ivory to Chinese and Japanese bidders, earning more than US$1.18 million. In October 2008, Namibia approved the proposal by a private company to export coal from Botswana via a railway to be constructed to Namibian ports. The

Mmamabula Mmamabula is a planned coal mine and coal-fired power station to the east of the main road and rail corridor in Botswana between Gaborone and Francistown and south of the Serorome River. The power station would be near to the village of Mmaph ...

deposit is said to possess about 2.8 billion tonnes of coal reserves (see

Mining industry of Botswana The mining industry of Botswana has dominated the national economy of Botswana since the 1970s, being a primary sector industry. Diamond has been the leading component of the mineral sector ever since production of gems started being extracted b ...

Disputes

Botswana and Namibia had a long-running dispute about ownership of the Kasikili /

Sedudu Sedudu Island (known as Kasikili Island in Namibia) is a fluvial island in the Chobe River, in Botswana adjacent to the border with Namibia. The island was the subject of a territorial dispute between these countries, resolved by a 1999 ruling o ...

island in the

Chobe River The Cuando (or Kwando) is a river in south-central Africa flowing through Angola and Namibia's Caprivi Strip and into the Linyanti Swamp on the northern border of Botswana. Below the swamp, the river is called the Linyanti River and, farther east ...

, which forms part of the border between the two countries. In December 1999, judges at the

World Court The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on international legal issues as interpretati ...

ruled that the island belongs to Botswana. In the

Caprivi Strip The Caprivi Strip, also known simply as Caprivi, is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia. It is bordered by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a sing ...

, the UNHCR reported that between October 1998 and February 1999 more than 2,400 Namibians crossed south into Botswana. The

Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta or Okavango Grassland is a vast inland delta in Botswana formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an elevation of in the central part of the endorheic basin of the Kalahari Desert. It is a UNESCO Wor ...

in Botswana is an area famous internationally for its birds and wildlife and an important source of tourist revenue, but depends on the

Okavango River The Okavango River (formerly spelt Okovango or Okovanggo), is a river in southwest Africa. It is known by this name in Botswana, and as Cubango in Angola, and Kavango in Namibia. It is the fourth-longest river system in southern Africa, runni ...

which flows from Angola via Namibia. In 1997 Namibia had been facing an extended drought and announced plans to divert water from the river, which threatened to become a serious issue between the two countries. Namibia has been critical of Botswana's "shoot to kill" policy against wildlife

poachers Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the hunti ...

. In 2015 and in 2020 several Namibians were killed as suspected poachers by the Botswanan military.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Botswana-Namibia Relations

Bilateral relations of Namibia

Treaties

Economic cooperation

Disputes

See also

References

External links