Mr Beattie contrasts how much more cannily Botswana has managed its diamond wealth compared with Sierra Leone's wretched squanderings.Turning to religion, Mr Beattie asks: "Why don't Islamic countries get rich?" Ah, he replies, some of them do.
April to December (for wildebeest) Book it: Tribes (01728 685971; tribes.co.uk) has a 10-night trip to Botswana, taking in Moremi, Chobe and Makgadikgadi, from £2,670, including accommodation, all meals, transfers and activities.
The company now operates in 17 countries including Botswana, Lesotho, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and New Zealand.
Other things that are no being banned: owning unregistered assault weapons in Connecticut; harassing celebrities and their children with long-lens cameras in California; hunting elephants in Botswana and injudicious calls to the London Fire Brigade (if you're a business you'll be fined for false alarms).
Departs 11 April, 16 May and 6 June 2010 Only an hour's flight from South Africa, Botswana is likely to reap the benefits of football fans heading to the World Cup.
The results garnered mixed reactions – while the African Union and most southern African nations were generally supportive, non-governmental groups and western governments were more critical and Botswana called for an audit.
Meanwhile, some of the world's poorer states do comparatively well: Botswana, Bhutan, Cape Verde, and Rwanda all appear among the 50 "cleanest" countries.
The visa process for mainland Chinese visitors to Taiwan will be streamlined in an effort to bolster cross-strait ties Africa Botswana, home to a third of the global elephant population, bans commercial hunting amid growing concerns about the decline in wildlife species.
I was 19 and somewhere in the Botswana bush with about 10 of my best friends, a couple of big old Land Rovers, an intrepid guide, far too much lager, and a copy of Catch-22.
Rosoboronexport's cooperation with traditional importers of Russian weapons from Africa include Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Libya, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Sudan, South Africa and Uganda.
The party is at a crossroads, mindful that for decades opposition movements have made little headway against liberation governments in neighbouring Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa, although Zambia has seen democratic transfers of power.
