But Botswana faces new challenges and the mood for change became evident as a downturn in the global demand for diamonds badly impacted the economy, becoming the central issue for the campaign.

Unemployment rose to more than 27% this year, and significantly higher for young people, as the government saw a sharp decrease in revenue from diamonds. Masisi and his party had faced criticism for not having done enough to diversify the economy and the nation has been forced to adopt recent austerity…