With rich natural resources such as diamonds, nickel, coal, copper, and gold, Botswana is one of the fastest developing economies in the world, averaging a 9 percent annual growth, the reports. Botswana's diamond reserves are the main driver, accounting for one-third of the country's GDP and 70 percent of its export earnings, and they are expected to be sufficient for at least another 20 years, according to the . In addition, significant uranium reserves were discovered in 2006.
China is offering Botswana interest-free loans, low-interest loans, as well as grants, and it has a stake in 28 projects such as roads and railway renovation, health facilities and low-cost housing construction, according to the website of the in Botswana. Along these lines, in 2009, Standard Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) financed the expansion of the Morupule coal power station by providing a $825 million loan over a 20 year period. The deal aims to improve the country鈥檚 energy self-reliance and to 鈥渟ecure power supply by expanding the existing generating capacity,鈥� reports.
