On September 30, 1966, Britain's Bechuanaland Protectorate became the independent Republic of Botswana. Seretse Khama, a chief who had once been exiled by British authorities over his interracial marriage, became the nation's first president. Despite being one of the world's poorest countries at independence, Botswana would go on to become one of Africa's most stable democracies and fastest-growing economies, driven largely by diamond wealth discovered shortly after.
At independence, Botswana had almost no infrastructure to speak of: a handful of miles of paved road, few secondary schools, and an economy dependent on cattle and remittances from miners working in South Africa. Few observers expected the arid, landlocked territory to thrive.
Seretse Khama, hereditary chief of the Bangwato people, had spent years in exile in Britain after his marriage to Ruth Williams, a white Englishwoman, provoked a diplomatic crisis with apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia. He returned home, renounced his chieftaincy to pursue elected politics, and led the country to independence as head of the Botswana Democratic Party.
Just a year after independence, vast diamond deposits were discovered at Orapa. Unlike many resource-rich African states, Botswana under Khama negotiated favorable terms with De Beers, invested revenue in education and infrastructure, and largely avoided the corruption that plagued neighboring economies. The result was decades of uninterrupted multiparty democracy and one of the highest sustained growth rates in the world, a rare success story often cited in development economics.
Key people: Seretse Khama, Ruth Williams Khama