• Effects of Economic Growth on Poverty Reduction: Experiences from Botswana, Kenya and Namibia

This is a comparative study that involves three non-highly indebted poor countries (non-

HIPC), namely: Botswana, Kenya and Namibia. These countries exhibit diverse

geographical characteristics. Botswana is a landlocked country in Southern Africa which

shares borders with South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the northwest and

west, and with Zambia and Zimbabwe to the northeast. Kenya is located in East Africa, with

the equator almost bisecting it, and borders on Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west,

Ethiopia and Sudan to the north, Somalia to the northeast and the Indian Ocean to the

southeast. Namibia is located in the south-west of Africa bordering South Africa to the south,

Angola and Zambia to the north and Botswana to the east. The surface area of Botswana is

582,000 km2 with the Kalahari Desert constituting 77 per cent of the total area (Central

Statistical Office 2006). Kenya occupies a total surface area of 582,646 km2, of which

571,466 km2 form the land area. Approximately 80 per cent of the land area of the country is

arid or semi-arid and only 20 per cent is arable (Republic of Kenya 2000a). Namibia covers

some 824,000 km2, spanning 1,440 km at its widest point and 1,320 at its longest (Office of

the President, National Planning Commission 2004). Namibia is regarded as one of the most

arid countries South of the Sahara with only 2 per cent of the land classified as arable land.