Climate Of Botswana

Investment Climate Statements provide a thorough description of the overseas environments in which U.S. investors must operate. The statements cover general characteristics, such as openness to foreign investment and treatment of foreign investors, as well as details about procedures for licensing and similar administrative matters. The statements are updated each year as Chapter 7 in the Country Commercial Guides, a series to be found by country at the U.S. Department of Commerce's website: http://www.export.gov/. ... [Read More]

Botswana (07/05)

The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program provides Consular Information Sheets, Travel Warnings, and Public Announcements. Consular Information Sheets exist for all countries and include information on entry requirements, currency regulations, health conditions, areas of instability, crime and security, political disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. posts in the country. Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Public Announcements are issued as a means to disseminate information quickly about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas that pose significant risks to the security of American travelers. Free copies of this information are available by calling the Bureau of Consular Affairs at 202-647-5225 or via the fax-on-demand system: 202-647-3000. Consular Information Sheets and Travel Warnings also are available on the Consular Affairs Int ... [Read More]

AGOA FORUM HIGHLIGHTS U.S. COMMITMENT TO AFRICAN PROSPERITY - "Gaborone Botswana"

On June 7, President Bush announced $674 million of additional resources to respond to humanitarian emergencies in Africa. $414 million will be spent to avert famine in the Horn of Africa. As the President said, "Helping those who suffer and preventing the senseless death of millions in Africa is a central commitment of my Administration's foreign policy. We're making historic progress in helping the poorest countries in Africa to gain a fresh start and build a future of greater opportunity and prosperity." ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

The Embassy staff includes the Ambassador, DCM, Ambassador’s office management specialist, two political/economic officers, a regional health and environment officer, a public affairs officer, a consular/commercial officer, two regional security officers, a security office management specialist, and management officer, a general services officer, a facilities maintenance manager, a regional human resources officer, a financial management officer, and two information management specialists. The Marine Security Guard Detachment provides 24-hour security guard operations at the Chancery. The management section provides a full range of support to agencies participating in the ICASS agreement. USAID relies minimally on the State administrative function since that agency maintains its own support service operation. ... [Read More]

Communique: First SADC-U.S. Forum, Gaborone, Botswana

The Forum focused on ways and means of improving the climate for foreign and domestic investment in the SADC region. The Forum recognized the importance of creating an environment needed to attract the investment to create new jobs and generate economic growth and prosperity. It noted the importance of strengthening an entrepreneurial environment, privatization and/or restructuring of state assets, the rule of law, and the pursuit of sound macroeconomic policies and regulatory regimes, as a prerequisite for sustained growth and sustainable development. ... [Read More]

Trade and Investment Promotion Newletter-Commercial Section Dar es Salaam

The World Economic Forum's Africa Competitiveness Report 2000-2001, published in conjunction with the Harvard Institute for International Development, has top-ranked Tanzania in a survey of African nations' efforts to improve economic and investment conditions. The Report, issued in July, placed Tanzania number one out of twenty-four countries on its index for the correction of initial economic conditions in recent years. The Report also ranked Tanzania number two on the African continent for optimism for future growth. Harvard Professor Jeffrey Sachs, a co-author of the report, visited Tanzania in July to encourage continued economic reform on Tanzania's part, as well as stronger efforts on the part of western donor countries to cancel Tanzania's remaining external debts. In private meetings with President Mkapa and other governmen ... [Read More]

AGOA Forum Highlights U.S. Commitment to African Prosperity - US Department of State

On June 7, President Bush announced $674 million of additional resources to respond to humanitarian emergencies in Africa.  $414 million will be spent to avert famine in the Horn of Africa.  As the President said, "Helping those who suffer and preventing the senseless death of millions in Africa is a central commitment of my Administration's foreign policy.  We're making historic progress in helping the poorest countries in Africa to gain a fresh start and build a future of greater opportunity and prosperity." ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Text: Greater Heat, More Hurricanes Stir 2003 Weather

Through the end of November, temperatures for the year were as much as 3 degrees F (1.7 degrees C) above average across large parts of Asia, Europe and the western United States. Warmer-than-average temperatures also covered much of South America, Australia, Canada and parts of Africa, while widespread areas of cooler-than-average temperatures occurred in the eastern United States, western Asia, and coastal areas of Australia. ...

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine resources. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Text: Working for a Sustainable World -- Environmental Stewardship, Pt. I

-- USAID is supporting the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Republic of Congo to conserve the region's unique and extraordinary wildlife, which is threatened by logging and the export of bush meat that follows in its wake. The Society works closely with the Congo Ministry of Forest Economy and the managers of logging companies that work around the reserves in northern Congo to design and establish systems of wildlife conservation and management on forestry concession lands. This includes methods to reduce the ecological impact of logging operations and prohibit the hunting of endangered species and the export of any bush meat from the concession. Several logging companies in Congo are now focusing on the impact of logging-based demographic growth, establishing wildlife management systems for sustainable subsistence use by communities, and developing alternative sources of protein for community consumption. ... [Read More]

Lesotho (06/05)

The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) controls a majority in the National Assembly (the lower house of parliament), with the Basotho National Party (BNP), Lesotho Peoples Congress, and the National Independent Party among the 9 opposition parties represented. The upper house of parliament, called the Senate, is composed of 22 principal chiefs whose membership is hereditary, and 11 appointees of the King, acting on the advice of the prime minister. The constitution provides for an independent judicial system. The judiciary is made up of the Court of Appeal, the High Court, Magistrate's Courts, and traditional courts that exist predominately in rural areas. All but one of the Justices on the Court of Appeal are South African jurists. There is no trial by jury; rather, judges make rulings alone, or, in the case of criminal trials, with two other judges as observers. The constitution also protects basic civil liberties, including freedom of speech, association, and the press; freedom of ... [Read More]