Archived Articles

Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

Global Real Estate Project
News Index

Directories
  Int'l Realty
  US Realty

Namibia and Botswana are countries small by population but large by territories. They are located just north of South Africa. What they have in common, as many other African countries, is their colonial past of some European powers. What they also have in common is that they defy the usual western stereotypes about countries south of Sahara desert with the prominent exception of South Africa. These two countries enjoy average living standard that almost touches on the world middle-income nations. They have something to show and teach their northern neighbors in what seems necessary in order to achieve better life. Instead of importing western expertise into Africa it would be better to try to copy the good performances of Botswana and Namibia into other less developed countries.

The numbers shouldn't fool us. Botswana and Namibia have both living standards much higher than the average sub-Sahara nations except South Africa, but the national wealth is distributed unevenly among the population, half of which lives barely better than in any other poor African country. On the other hand, the remaining half enjoys life comparable to some middle-income countries from other continents sharing the same climate conditions. The real estate market is sufficiently developed and the regulations are fairly comparable to those that we may find in most developed countries. The residential prices are comparable to some less costly cities in the richest countries.

Botswana and Namibia have somehow different history in terms of European colonial power that originally took over these territories. This detail puts away the simple explanation that their relative economic success has something to do with their colonial past. If that was the case then how we could explain the relative non-development of many other African countries that share the same colonial past. Botswana and Namibia have also not identical political history, which also makes impossible to draw definitive conclusion that somehow the political factor has predetermined the economic outcomes. Unlike Namibia, Botswana is landlocked country, which by itself is a further obstacle for trade and economic development. The facts prove that this obstacle isn't very important when there is a political will to move the country forward.

Namibia and Botswana have plenty of natural resources that are sufficiently developed and exported to the world markets. But so do most sub-Sahara countries. The secret(s) of the relative economic success of these two particular countries are complex and shouldn't be reduced to only one decisive factor. On the other hand, looking for the reasons to explain the relative success of these countries may have beneficial effects to many other nations in the region. Most of the western economic prescriptions for Africa have failed, maybe because they were perceived as just other forms of colonial intervention. Perhaps the key isn't to import western models, but to adapt some models that have been developed by countries like Botswana and Namibia, and which have already given good results.

Profile of Namibia:

• Area: 825,418 sq km
• Population: 2 million (July 2005 est.).
• Life expectancy at birth: 43.93 years (2005 est.).
• HIV/AIDS (adult population): 21.3% (2003 est.).
• GDP per capita: purchasing power parity $7,300 (2004 est.).
• Population below poverty line: 50% (2002 est.).
• Distribution of family income (Gini index): 70 (2003).
• Internet users: 65,000 (2003).

Profile of Botswana:

• Area: 600,370 sq km.
• Population: 1.6 million (July 2005 est.).
• Life expectancy at birth: 33.87 years (2005 est.).
• HIV/AIDS (adult population): 37.3% (2003 est.).
• GDP per capita: purchasing power parity $9,200 (2004 est.).
• Population below poverty line: 47% (2002 est.).
• Internet users: 60,000 (2003).

(Source: CIA - World Factbook 2005)

--------------------

See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Botswana and Namibia.