Batswana's Laid Back Attitude and Domain Names

The few people that have gone to Botswana that I have met in the UK seem to remember Botswana for one thing in particular - laid back attitude. More often than not, they seem to like the fact that batswana are laid back people who are in no rush to do anything. Everything seems to go in slow motion.

Anyway back to the title of this post, what is it with domain names for companies or enterprises in Botswana, there seem to be some ridiculous tendency to have domain name of the form domainbw.com; why can't these buggers just register standard domain names domain.co.bw which you can be able to guess so long as you know the company name.

Take The Voice for instance, why can't they just be thevoice.co.bw instead of thevoicebw.com or Gazette, what's with gazettebw.com or; simple gazette.co.bw; Now that's not difficult now or is it? The other one is University of Botswana, it's a common practice to register internet names for academic institutions with a .ac. or .edu between the name of the institution and the top level domain name of the country in which that institution is based e.g. monash.edu.au or qmul.ac.uk

Of course we are free to register any domain name in any allowable form anywhere in the world but it helps to adopt some of these defacto standards; it can only help !

One of the reasons why it is so difficult to find information about companies in Botswana is the fact that website urls do no follow the industry's best practice. If Botswana is to compete on the global market, it's about time Batswana get rid of this "laid back attitude" mentality and be pragmatic and objective in the way we approach to things.

We are living in the information age and it's about time we adopt the global approaches to how information is accessed, managed and disseminated in Botswana.

In any case, the comment system at The Voice website (using Joomla CMS) is a wonderful development especially with the government trying to muzzle Batswana on what they can or can't talk about.

Please feel free to comment on this article if it rouses your mind. Till next time !

Facts about Botswana

Botswana; situated at the core of Southern Africa sandwiched between South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia spots one of Africa's best virgin wilderness.

The country obtained its independence from the British in 1966. Unlike other British colonies of that time, the country was of less economic value to the Colonial Masters as such granting Independence to Botswana was a "wanted request" by the British. When the British left Botswana, the then Bechuanaland; rumour has it that the only piece of "civilization" the British left as a reminder of their presence in Botswana was a 15km stretch of tarred road.

Mineral Resources

Mineral exploration bore fruit immediately after the british left and the government that was reinvested the revenue from mineral resources into developing the country to bring it to par with its neighbours who had benefited somewhat both infrastructure economic wise from the British rule e.g. South Africa and Zimbabwe. Recently, news has come out that there are Uranium deposits which could constitute as much as 8% of the world's uranium that have been discovered in the Letlhakane area which is an area in close proximity to one of the largest diamond mines in the country i.e. Orapa.

Economic Growth

Over the years the country has enjoyed steady economic growth mainly from diamond sale revenue and tourism. Tourism industry is the second largest sector contributing to the country's economy and a significant contributor to the GDP. The government is involved in an intensive economic diversification in an attempt to reduce high dependence on the sale of minerals; mainly diamonds.

Political Stability

Since independence the country has enjoyed a multi-party politics and free elections in stark contrast to the popular trend of political instability in Africa. The country has seen a seemless succession of four presidents; Seretse Khama to Ketumile Masire to Festus Mogae to the now current president Ian Khama who is the eldest son to the country's first president. Nevertheless, the jury is still out on the current president, Ian Khama as he has been in office only for 3 months and given his military background critics are watching him and his ideas with keen interest to see if he will follow in the footsteps of his predecessors.

The Land of the No.1 Ladies Detective

Botswana is situated in the heart of Southern Africa, nested between South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and pretty much Angola given the ownership of the Caprivi Strip.

As the saying goes, no man is an island, I think in the case of Botswana we can say, "No country is an island" I guess given that the country has several neighbouring countries, it's no wonder Batswana are generally welcoming, friendly and laid back people.