The office is quiet, but the inbox is not. On the desk of the newly appointed Deputy Permanent Secretary to the President sits the weight of a nation’s ambitions: a solar power station the size of a small city, a railway line that has been delayed for more than a decade, the digital transformation of an entire civil service, and a social housing programme meant to put a hundred thousand roofs over heads.

A startling new link has emerged in cancer research: sweetened drinks, a staple in millions of diets worldwide, have now been associated with an increased risk of stomach cancer. This revelation has sparked urgent conversations among health experts and policymakers, shaking the foundations of what many considered a relatively benign indulgence. As stomach cancer continues to claim hundreds of thousands of lives annually across the globe, understanding these risks could shape future public health strategies...

As southern Africa braces for another bout with El Niño, Botswana finds itself on the frontline of a looming health crisis. This climatic phenomenon, notorious for triggering extreme weather, is expected to bring soaring temperatures and prolonged dry spells to the region in the 2026/27 season. With an 80% likelihood of a strong El Niño event this year, the government and health experts are sounding alarms about the severe health risks that could follow, urging...

Amid the sultry July heat of Rio de Janeiro, a gathering unlike any other unfolded at the Riocentro Convention Center in late July 2026. Thousands of researchers, clinicians, advocates, and people living with HIV converged for the 26th International AIDS Conference, known as AIDS 2026. This global congregation brought fresh hope and a powerful sense of momentum to a fight that has spanned more than four decades. At its heart were groundbreaking revelations on HIV...

Botswana’s recent climb in public debt has sparked chatter about a looming debt crisis, but the country’s finance leadership is pushing back hard against the alarm bells. Ndaba Gaolathe, Botswana’s Minister of Finance and Vice President, laid it out bluntly in Parliament: Botswana is not in debt distress. Despite the uptick in borrowing, the nation remains fiscally stable, with one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the latest IMF data from...

…as fuel price cuts drive transport costs down Botswana’s inflation cooled sharply in July 2026, marking a rare bright spot in a year otherwise defined by persistent price pressures across southern Africa. The annual inflation rate eased to 9.4 percent from 10.7 percent in June, a 1.3 percentage-point drop driven largely by a steep decline in transport costs. According to the latest Consumer Price Index report from Statistics Botswana, this easing was chiefly due to...