Things are Looking Up in Goodhope

Things are Looking Up in Goodhope

            Like the rest of the world, Africa was gripped by the recession that began in 2008. Here in Botswana, heavily dependent upon diamond exports, the recession meant loss of revenue because Americans and Europeans were not buying so many sparklers.

            Things are changing. The White House recently held a business summit for African leaders. Botswana diamond production is up. More diamonds are being cut, polished and processed in country, instead of elsewhere. The predicted Botswana GDP growth rate for 2014 is around 5 percent.

            Here in Goodhope, there is also more economic activity. A new water pipeline recently completed from Lobatse promises to increase the percentage of the time when water will flow out of taps. Already we have running water in our house for a few hours at a time, maybe 3 or 4 days a week.

            The iconic Goodhope Fashion Center, out of business by the time we arrived in 2012, has been reinvented. For a while it served as the home of a storefront church. But this month the building received a coat of sky blue paint. A new business then opened, proudly naming itself Goodhope Plaza. It is a general dealer, a sort of convenience store that sells canned goods, a few vegetables and some cuts of meat. Best wishes to the proprietor!

Out with the old...

In with the new.