Botswana is the world's top diamond producer, but it's seeking greater fortunes. While the country is one of Africa's fastest-growing economies, it's also among the most vulnerable because it relies so heavily on mining. With mineral revenues generating about 40 percent of total revenue, Botswana must diversify to insulate itself from commodity price crashes, like the 2015 collapse that caused the economy to contract for the fourth time in just 15 years.
GDP growth is expected to reach 4 percent in 2017—nearly a percentage point more than last year's rate, but still less than half of the record-setting 9.9 percent the country saw in 2013. To maintain the ascent, Botswana's government—the country's primary project sponsor—is looking to ramp up infrastructure and tourism projects. It's also investing in renewable energy and technology initiatives, including a BWP20 million assembly plant for smartphones and laptops that opened in November 2016 in Gaborone.
But successful diversification depends on better project management. While a stable democratic government, an educated workforce and a low risk of social conflicts have laid a solid project foundation, other obstacles have persisted since the country gained its independence in 1966. Bloated government-run projects plagued by insufficient planning, inefficient execution and incomplete risk assessments have been the norm, says Oabona Kgengwenyane, managing director of project management consulting firm Innolead, Gaborone.
“We have wasted billions and billions of dollars due to a lack of project management skills,” Mr. Kgengwenyane says.
But he believes economic adversity can lead to greater project diversity and better project management in the private sector. That, in turn, has the potential to influence public initiatives. For instance, the government is just starting to see how public-private partnerships (PPPs) can help accelerate growth and ensure better project outcomes.
“We have wasted billions and billions of dollars due to a lack of project management skills.”
—Oabona Kgengwenyane, Innolead, Gaborone, Botswana
“There is more appreciation for the value of project management after the unfortunate and painful experiences of the past,” Mr. Kgengwenyane says. “There's now an opportunity to diversify project funding sources and the economy in general. It's a chance for us to up our project management game.”
Botswana's project landscape has already started to shift. From 2009 to 2016, the mining sector shrunk by an average of 3.4 percent a year, while other sectors grew by an average of 5.6 percent. Leading the surge are projects in finance, trade and tourism.
For instance, the country's wildlife tourism is expected to get a boost from two projects currently in progress. A US$95 million project by Italian firms Itinera and Cimolai to build a bridge over a section of the Okavango Delta is on track to be completed in 2019. And AECOM is now on schedule to complete a new terminal for the Kasane International Airport in the northeast corner of the country this year. The project aims to improve tourist access to the Okavango Delta, as well as wildlife preserves in neighboring Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia. But the airport's remote location required the project team to pad the schedule and budget so it could import materials from Namibia and truck in supplies from Francistown, Botswana, which is 500 kilometers (311 miles) away.
“These are very interesting times for project management in Botswana. A lot of people are opening their eyes to … what it can achieve.”
—Michelle Rapotsanyane, PMP, Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Gaborone, Botswana
PHOTO BY JOHN WARBURTON-LEE / ALAMY STOCK
Tourists by a fire in Savuti, Botswana
And the growing pains have been worse in other sectors. The US$1.7 billion Morupule B Generation and Transmission energy project—designed to construct a 600-megawatt coal-fired power station and water supply system—was completed last year. But major problems persisted: There were five fatalities during construction, it finished four years behind schedule—and at nearly double the original budget—and the plant still is not producing at full capacity.
Some see Morupule B as a necessary speed bump on the road to maturity. As one of the country's first PPPs, the project was developed by China National Electric Equipment Corp. and state-run Botswana Power Corp. with funding from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., African Development Bank and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It has provided valuable lessons learned to other project teams, highlighting the need to control scope and anticipate risk, says Marea Modutlwa, PMP, group project manager, Letshego Holdings Ltd., Gaborone.
“There isn't much attention paid to project costs and the bottom line when it comes to government-run projects,” Ms. Modutlwa says. “PPPs as a tool of project delivery mitigate risk and increase efficiency.”
The government is already in the process of negotiating PPPs for two other energy projects: a coal mine and 600-MW power station in Mabesekwa that would be developed with Shumba Energy, and the country's first coal-based methane power plant, in collaboration with Australia's Tlou Energy.
“When the government loses money on a project, who feels the pain?” says Kagiso Bafentse, PMP, a project manager in Orapa for Debswana Diamond Co., the country's largest government diamond mining company. “In PPPs, the private partners are bound to want to protect their investment and make sure they benefit from it.”
“All project managers are expected to work to close their skill gaps in terms of project maturity.”
—Kagiso Bafentse, PMP, Debswana Diamond Co., Orapa, Botswana
NEW HORIZONS
The country is also improving project management maturity in an attempt to transform its project culture. Mr. Kgengwenyane's firm performed a project management maturity assessment for the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources (MMEWR) as part of a two-year, US$1.5 million project to establish a project management office (PMO) at the agency. The assessment, completed in 2014, found that the agency lacked the project management processes and skills required to better manage its projects. The assessment also found that contractors and consultant engineers took advantage of inexperienced project owner teams by neglecting controls for budgets and schedules.
The PMO has streamlined project management practices at MMEWR, says Michelle Rapotsanyane, PMP, controls manager, MMEWR, Gaborone. After launching the PMO, MMEWR implemented a single project methodology that's now applied to all projects across the enterprise. And MMEWR's experience has provided a PMO benchmark for other ministries, as the government has expressed interest in transferring this knowledge to other offices, she says.
At Debswana, which has maintained a PMO for years, the office is focused on fine-tuning processes and skills, Mr. Bafentse says. Debswana project managers set key performance indicators to address project management capability to ensure compliance to the organization's project management framework. “Every year, all project managers are expected to work to close their skill gaps in terms of project maturity and improve their project management maturity index,” he says.
Across the country, more people are pursuing project management certifications, and Gaborone is launching a local PMI chapter. Both developments suggest Botswana is determined to build a project management culture that will help the country become more than a mining hot spot, Ms. Rapotsanyane says.
“These are very interesting times for project management in Botswana. A lot of people are opening their eyes to project management and what it can achieve.” PM
BOTSWANA AT A GLANCE
Population (2015)
2.2 million
Size
581,730 square kilometers (224,607 square miles)
GDP (2015)
US$14.4 billion
GDP growth rate (2016)
3.1 %
GDP growth forecast (2017)
4%
Primary industries
Mining, agriculture, services and tourism
Gross national income per capita (2015)
US$6,460
Sources: The World Bank, CIA World Factbook
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
We asked project professionals: What skills are necessary for project managers to stand out in Botswana today?
“You must be able to document and measure your project progress. Spending more time means more costs. If you do not document this, you cannot work up your variance orders to show that you indeed deviated and by how many days. That's the only way you can recoup your costs.”
—Einstein Kesekang, PMP, customer project manager, PMI Global Executive Council member Ericsson, Gaborone, Botswana
“Earn a Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification and focus on stakeholder management. Certification is important, because project managers are mainly engineers with undergraduate degrees in their specific engineering fields but with no background in project management. Building stakeholder management skills will improve stakeholder buy-in so the project can be completed under less strenuous circumstances.”
—Michelle Rapotsanyane, PMP, controls manager, Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Gaborone, Botswana
“Project managers need to have more planning skills—and they need to go to workshops and keep learning. The world changes around us, and we need to continue to upgrade ourselves.”
—Crosby Govera, project manager, CUL Building and Transport, Jwaneng, Botswana
BUILDING MOMENTUM
Big projects in nascent sectors demonstrate Botswana's desire to diversify.
OKAVANGO DELTA BRIDGE
Budget: US$95 million
Targeted close: 2019
Italian firms Itinera and Cimolai will build a 1.1-kilometer (0.7-mile) bridge and pedestrian walkways over the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bridge will replace a boat service across a section of the delta so tourists can more easily access the wildlife refuge.
North-South Water phase 1, completed in 2012
NORTH-SOUTH WATER CARRIER 2
Budget: US$500 million
Targeted close: 2021
The government-funded initiative will transport water from several reservoirs in the north to population centers in southern Botswana. The project includes a 300-kilometer (186-mile) pipeline, associated reservoirs and pump stations along the route. Scheduled to launch as early as late 2017, the project is expected to take 36 months to complete.
LESEDI COAL BED METHANE POWER PLANT
Budget: Not yet reported
Targeted launch: 2017 or 2018
A joint venture by Tlou Energy Ltd. and the U.K.'s Independent Power hopes to deliver Botswana's first coal-based methane power plant. The pilot project would allow the companies to produce up to 100 megawatts of energy, then enter into a power-purchasing agreement with the government. The government could accept the bids for the project as early as this month. Tlou plans to expand production to other sites if the pilot is successful.
Horizontal pilot well schematic for the Lesedi Coal Bed Methane Power Plant project