Botswana - Infrastructure, power, and communications

Botswana has 971 kilometers (603 miles) of rail lines, 18,482 kilometers (11,484 miles) of roads (of which only 23 percent are paved), and 92 airports, of which 12 have paved runways. The national airline is Air Botswana, which flies domestically and to other countries in Africa. Direct air service from Gaborone to London and Paris is provided by British and French airlines.

Botswana has a good infrastructure by African standards. The quality of infrastructure was greatly improved by the development of the mining industry, which required adequate transportation and communication networks. Botswana also benefits from its location next to South Africa. This has allowed Botswana access to South Africa's telecommunications infrastructure. Botswana's desire to become an international financial services center is a key factor driving the improvement of the country's land line and cellular telephone networks. In 1998 there were 78,000 phone lines in use.

Domestically produced coal generates 100 percent of the electricity for Botswana, which is approximately 1.619 billion Kilowatts (1998). Every other source of energy, including oil, must be imported.