On cooperatives, the Gov’t is flogging a dead horse

Sunday Standard On cooperatives, the Gov’t is flogging a dead horse Botswana’s economic history features a litany of failed cooperatives. And somewhere, somehow, some leaders still think they have yet another life for cooperatives if only they could tweak the model a bit. The Assistant Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship was in the news recently, advocating for reviving the cooperative business concept. It is very interesting […] The post On cooperatives, the Gov’t is flogging a dead horse first appeared on Sunday Standard and is written by Stephanus Gentium

Jul 21, 2026 - 18:11

Sunday Standard

On cooperatives, the Gov’t is flogging a dead horse

Botswana’s economic history features a litany of failed cooperatives. And somewhere, somehow, some leaders still think they have yet another life for cooperatives if only they could tweak the model a bit. The Assistant Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship was in the news recently, advocating for reviving the cooperative business concept.

It is very interesting that after many repeated attempts to develop cooperatives in Botswana or anywhere in the world, for that matter, nothing seems to be moving in the right direction. The government has spent millions of Pula over time, trying to promote cooperatives, but the whole thing always ends where it started. It is as if the government is on a hamster wheel

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