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Germany and Botswana: Bilateral relations
Then-President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi visited Germany in September 2023 and June 2024. Minister of State Serap Güler (Federal Foreign Office) visited Botswana in October 2025. Federal President Steinmeier went on a state visit to Botswana in November 2018. The German Embassy in Gaborone opened in 1975, and Botswana has had an Embassy in Berlin since 2013.
Trade between Germany and Botswana is modest, as is German direct investment in the country. Diamonds are Botswana’s main export to Germany and to the world, while Germany’s principal exports to Botswana are electrical engineering products and machinery. Botswana sources the majority of its imports from South Africa, including many German products – which do not, however, appear in the bilateral trade statistics.
Owing to its classification as an upper middle income country, Botswana is no longer a recipient of bilateral German development funds. There are, however, occasional projects with German involvement, for instance within the framework of the Federal Government’s International Climate Initiative. Botswana receives support, including in the areas of water management and wildlife protection, in the context of cooperation between the EU and Germany and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), whose secretariat is located in the capital city of Gaborone.